You Want Answers?
by supernaturalbuffy
Summary: The brothers deal with the aftermath of Sam’s visions manifesting physically and also try to figure out what plans the yelloweyed demon has in store for them both. Hurt!Sam, Hurt!Protective!Dean
1. Chapter 1

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 1

Summary: The brothers deal with the aftermath of Sam's visions manifesting physically and also try to figure out what plans the yellow-eyed demon has in store for them both.

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

"He's not going to cooperate no matter how much I try to beat some sense into him," said 'Jane'. The demon possessed woman that had lured Sam into this trap. She wiped Sam's blood from his knuckles and looked to the other occupant in the room besides Sam. "He wants answers first."

The Yellow-Eyed Demon walked over to where Sam was tied to a chair and loomed over the young man. Sam could feel his pulse quicken and he found it hard to catch his breath. He tried to be strong, but between the beatings and the string of all too real visions he'd had lately he was beginning to crumble.

The Demon leaned down to place a hand on Sam's shoulder and Sam could feel a shiver run up his back. "You want answers, Sammy-boy? I'll tell you everything," the Demon told Sam as he grasped Sam's head in both hands.

Sam screamed as pain blossomed behind his eyes and he could feel the world start to fall away. When he opened his eyes again Sam found himself standing in a dark room that looked vaguely familiar. "Where am I?"

"Where do you think?" said the Demon standing next to him.

Sam looked around noticing the large window behind them and lights that danced across the wall from a night light sitting on a nearby dresser. Then he saw a man standing over a crib where a baby laid cooing softly to itself and then he knew. "Is that…" horror filling him when he realized where he must be.

"Yes. That's you as a baby." The Demon smirked at the look of shock on Sam's face as he watched the scene play out. "You wanted to know the truth. So I thought I'd show you."

Sam looked on in horror as the Demon from the past cut his wrist and drops of his blood fell into Baby Sam's mouth. "You fed me demon's blood?!"

The Demon shrugged nonchalantly. "It's the only way to see if you are a chosen one or not."

Just then a shadow fell across the room as his mom walked in the door to the nursery. _"John, is he okay? Does he want to be fed?" asked Mary from the past. _

"Mom!" Sam yelled.

_The Demon from the past turned slightly towards Mary and made a shushing noise. _

_Mary just stood there for a moment with a baffled look on her face and then shrugged. "O-kay." She then walked away down the hall. _

Sam started to go after her. "Mom! Don't!" Maybe he could save her if he could just stop her from coming back.

The Demon grabbed his arm to hold him back. "Easy, Sammy-boy. She can't hear you. This is just a _Technicolor_ playback if you will."

Sam seethed in silence. He watched helplessly as the demon continued to feed him the blood a thought finally bubbling to the surface of his mind. "So does this mean I have demon's blood in me?" He looked at the Demon from the present hoping that he was wrong.

The Demon held his steady gaze. "Where do you think the visions came from, Sammy?" asked the Demon without emotion.

Sam's head reeled with the notion that he may be part demon and what that meant. He _could_ turn evil if under the right circumstances. He was a danger to everyone he ever loved because now he knew what he really was. He felt anger start to well up in him, and all he could think was that once this was over with he was going to kill this sunavabitch for what he had done to him and his family.

_His mother came running back into the room shouting, "Sam!" She stopped dead in her tracks as the yellow-eyed demon turned to look at her and a look of confusion and then recognition crossed her face. "It's you," was all Mary said. _

Sam was shocked. "She knew you!" He looked from his mother to the Demon and back again not sure what to believe.

"You see it was never about her. She just came in at the wrong time," said the Demon relishing what effect this revelation had on the young man.

Sam's mind was reeling with this new information. He had always felt somehow that his mother's death might have been his fault, but now he knew for certain. She died just because she was trying to save him. He watched in sick fascination as his mother was pushed up against the wall by unseen forces, and Sam knew what was to come. "No!" It came out as a strangled protest as Sam fought to keep his emotions under control. Mary started up the wall and stopped when she was pinned on the ceiling, a look of fear in her eyes. Sam wanted to stop watching, but part of him wanted to see it for himself. See if it was just like when Jess had died. A bloody cut started to form on her stomach and Sam stood frozen to the spot.

"I think that's enough for now," said the Demon from the present and the image faded to white.

Sam was then standing in another room. He looked for the YED to be beside him, but instead the scene he saw freaked him out even more. It was himself. He was tied to a chair just like at 'Jane's' house and the two demons were standing in front of him watching his limp form.

"_You think he's ready to cooperate now?" asked 'Jane'. _

"_Yeah, I think he's ready," said the YED. _

_Just then the front door burst in and he saw Dean storm in with his shotgun ready. "Sam!" Dean's voice was gruff with emotion and Sam could tell that he was scared for his little brother. He shot 'Jane' in the chest with a rock-salt bullet and she flew back landing painfully on the floor. He then took aim at the Demon. _

_By this time the YED had reached Sam and had a knife to his throat. "Oh, I wouldn't do anything if I were you. Not unless you want to see your precious Sammy-boy die." The YED smiled wickedly at Dean and drew the knife slightly over Sam's neck. _

Dean hesitated at this not knowing what to do. Sam watched Dean in disbelief. He couldn't believe his brother was falling for this.

"_Just let my brother go," Dean snarled as he kept the rifle trained on the Demon. _

"_Oh, I don't think so. You see if I do, then what stops you from killing me? _

_Dean smirked slightly. "You wouldn't do it. Sam's your favorite. He's supposed to help you ring in the new Apocalypse. He's no good to you dead." _

"_Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. You see…there's lots more like him out there. I know you've come across a few in all your demon hunting. And who's to say I don't kill him right here and move onto the next best potential. Besides, if you try to shoot me now you'll get Sammy-boy here to." _

_The Sam in the vision must have come to a bit because he called out weakly. "Dean." _

_Dean hesitated for a second longer before lowering his weapon. "Okay. You win. Just…let my brother go. Please." _

"Dean, no!" yelled Present Sam.

_The YED just chuckled and then sneered. "You know, I always did love a good sucker." With that he took his knife and plunged it into Sam's side. _

"_No!"_

Sam gasped for air as he came to in his chair his eyes bulging in fright. The two demons were laughing at him as he struggled to get his breath.

"What's the matter, Sammy?" The demon "Jane" asked. "You said you wanted to know the truth. Now you don't look like you really want to know." She then laughed evilly.

Sam squeezed his eyes shut against the intense pain in his head and side. He could feel a little blood trickle down his ribs and it hurt to breathe. He knew he was hurt bad, and like all of his other injuries from previous visions he knew that this one could be fatal. He struggled to stay awake knowing that his brother Dean would be coming to rescue him. He had to figure out what to do.

A strangled sob left him as relief washed through him. Dean wasn't dead like the Demon had led him to believe. His brother was alive either by some crazy chance or the Demon had straight out lied to him. Either way, he could feel hope blossom in him again.

As the pain in his head subsided a little what he saw in his visions came back to him. He was part demon and his mother had known the Demon, but that didn't matter right now. He had to figure out a way to stop his second vision from coming true.

He saw black spots and his vision began to blur as he started to lose consciousness. He tried to take a deep breath but it was impossible between the stab wound in his side and his broken ribs from the previous beatings.

"So what do you say, Sammy-boy? You ready to cooperate?" asked the Demon.

Sam gasped for air and concentrated on not letting himself fall unconscious.

"Oh stop with the dramatics," said the YED as he stepped closer to Sam. "I said, are you ready to cooperate?" He emphasized the last with a fist to Sam's jaw.

Pain exploded in Sam's face and his vision swam even more as the pain in his side blossomed some more as his body twisted under the blow. He couldn't help the small groan of pain that passed his lips. He was so tired.

The demon crouched down to his level and held Sam's head up so he could look into Sam's eyes, which were almost completely swollen shut.

Sam could barely make him out through the haze of pain and he blinked slowly trying to clear his vision. What he saw made him smile slightly. Doubt. The yellow-eyed demon looked at Sam for a second longer and then started to examine him more closely. He touched the wound in Sam's side and Sam groaned in pain and coughed with the effort to breathe.

"Damn it!" the YED roared as he stood up. Sam's head flopped against his chest too heavy for him to keep upright anymore.

"What is it?" Jane asked confusion plainly in her voice.

"He's had another vision," growled the Demon through gritted teeth. He was then back over to Sam in nothing flat holding his head up by his hair. "Tell me!" He grabbed Sam's face so he could look him in the eye. "Tell me what you saw!"

Sam concentrated on trying to stay awake as he looked into the Demon's angry yellow eyes a small smirk crossing his battered face. Just then the front door flew in and there was Dean with a shotgun. He shot 'Jane' with rock salt throwing her back onto the floor where she writhed in pain clutching her chest. He then kicked her in the face and she fell still as she lost consciousness.

Dean then turned to survey the rest of the room and his heart almost stopped at what he saw. "Sam!"

The YED had used the time it took Dean to take out 'Jane' to swing around behind Sam and was now holding a wicked looking knife to his throat.

"Dean," Sam croaked out, his Adam's apple bobbing dangerously against the blade of the knife.

"It's okay, Sam. I'm here," Dean said trying to remain calm for Sam's sake as he trained his gun on the demon holding his brother hostage. A furious look passed across his face as he stared at the yellow-eyed bastard that had killed his mother and was now threatening his brother's life.

The demon laughed slightly. "Are you sure about that, Dean? From the way I see it, I don't think anything is okay."

"Just let my brother go you sunuvabitch," growled Dean as he tightened his grip on the shotgun knowing that he couldn't shoot the demon without hitting Sam.

"Now why would I do that? If I let him go, you'd just kill me; and I wouldn't want that." The Demon grinned evilly and pulled Sam's head back a little more making the younger Winchester gasp in pain.

'_This is going exactly like I saw in my vision!'_ Sam thought to himself as he tried not to pass out from the pain. '_If I don't do something, I'll end up dead and probably Dean too. Think!_' He tried to get his addled brain to work through the haze of pain. There was only one thing, but he was only going to have one shot at it. Now he only had to wait for it to come and hope that it would work.

"And who's to say I don't kill him and move onto the next best potential," said the YED. He really didn't want to do it this way, but if he had to he would.

"Dean, don't," whispered Sam, the knife nicking at his throat. Sam tried to make eye contact with his brother but was finding it difficult to focus.

Dean hesitated for a moment trying to decide what to do. He didn't want the Demon to win, but he couldn't let Sam get hurt anymore. Dean put down his gun and relaxed his stance. "Okay, you win. Just…let my brother go." He hated begging but if it saved Sam. "Please, don't hurt him."

The Demon laughed deeply as he continued to stare at Dean with an evil glint in his eye. "You know…I always loved a sucker," gloated the YED and he made his move.

As the Demon lowered his knife to stab him in the side, Sam gathered all his strength and head butted the bastard. The Demon staggered back away from Sam, and Dean quickly pulled a gun from his waistband and took a wild shot hitting the YED in the shoulder. The Demon fell back clutching at his bleeding shoulder shocked at what had happened. Dean started towards Sam and 'Jane' leapt on top of him and they went flying to the ground. Dean's gun flew from his hand and skittered across the floor.

After hearing the shot, Bobby who had been waiting outside the back door burst in and surveyed the scene in front of him. Dean was fighting with a woman who he assumed was possessed. Sam was tied to a chair a few feet in front of him and the YED was lying on the floor at his feet with a bullet in his shoulder. Bobby wasted no time firing a few more shots into the Demon including one in the head.

Oily black smoke fled the host body as the Demon retreated slipping through the cracks in the floor. Bobby then rushed to help Dean. Dean and the woman somehow had made their way over to where the gun had slid and were fighting over it. Dean had some scratches on his face and the demon was sporting a swollen eye. Dean wrestled for control and Bobby could see he was losing as the barrel of the gun inched closer to Dean's face. Bobby didn't hesitate in plunging a knife into her back giving it a good twist. The demon howled in pain and fled the body it inhabited before her host died.

Dean lay on the floor panting from the ordeal as Bobby leaned over to look him over. "You okay?" asked Bobby.

Dean nodded slightly in response. "Yeah, thanks," he said as he reached for Bobby's hand to help pull him up.

"No problem," said Bobby.

Dean stood for a moment trying to get his balance thankful that at least that was over. His body was screaming at him to slow down, take it easy, but he ignored it. He would have time to rest later. He limped slightly as he turned to look around at the room.

Both of them then turned their attention to Sam who was still tied to the chair with his head hanging limply against his chest. Dean hobbled over to Sam as quickly as he could and leaned down in front of him. His brother didn't look too good. He had bruises everywhere and it didn't look like he even had enough strength to lift his head off his chest.

"Sam? Sam, come on wake up." Dean lifted his chin so he could look at his brother's face and then smacked his cheek slightly a few times trying to raise his brother. "Come on, Sam. Open your eyes for me." His face was a mess, but Dean could see a little glimmer when Sam opened his swollen eyes.

"Dean." It was more of a mumble than a word but it was the best thing that Dean had heard in a long time.

"Hey, Sam. No, come on. You gotta stay awake. Come on stay with me. You got to keep talking." He shook his brother slightly trying to wake him more as Bobby went to cut his restraints.

Sam groaned slightly and tried to do what his brother wanted. "Did you get them?" asked Sam so softly that Dean almost didn't hear it.

Dean smiled. "Yeah, yeah we got those bastards. Hey that was some quick thinking on your part, Sammy. How did you know he was going to move when he did?" He held his brother's head between his hands trying to get Sam to focus.

Sam blinked trying to get his eyes to focus and tried to suck in a breath. He was so tired. "…I saw…" Sam's eyes closed slowly and Dean shook him slightly.

"Hey, Sam, what did you see?" Dean tapped his brother's cheek again and winced when Sam gave out a small whimper of pain.

Bobby cut the last restraint holding him to the chair, and Sam slumped forward into Dean's arms unable to hold himself in the chair any longer. As Bobby got up his eyes traveled to the floor where he thought he saw something and his stomach dropped.

"Dean."

Dean looked at Bobby with a frown on his face. Bobby was staring at the floor by Sam's chair and Dean tried to figure out what was so damn interesting. He looked down to where Bobby was looking and he went cold. Something was dripping onto the floor steadily from the seat of the chair and it took Dean a second to realize what it was. Blood.

He leaned Sam back in the chair carefully holding his shoulder to keep him upright and pulled back his coat to get a better look and then he saw it. A stab wound in his little brother's side. The blood quickly staining his shirt red. "Damn it, Sam."

Hope you liked it. Please let me know what you think by reviewing. Good? Bad? Make sense? Inquiring minds want to know.


	2. Chapter 2

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 2

Summary: The brothers deal with the aftermath of Sam's visions manifesting physically and also try to figure out what plans the yellow-eyed demon has in store for them both.

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry. Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give. Good, bad, or constructive criticism.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

Dean quickly took off his over shirt and held it against the wound in Sam's side. Sam groaned in pain and tried to pull away but was too weak to do much more than that.

"Oh, God. Uh, Sam, can you walk?" This was so not good. Sam looked like hell. "Come on, we need to get you out of here. Bobby can you help?"

Bobby and Dean got on either side of Sam and carefully lifted him to his feet. Sam cried out as the motion caused pain to rip through his body and he gasped for air as his vision tilted and faded. He swayed slightly once he was standing and would have done a face plant if the two older hunters hadn't been holding him up. He tried to take a step but only managed a slight shuffle drag as Bobby and Dean pulled him along. He was so tired. He just wanted to sleep.

"Come on, Sam. Help us out here," Dean ground out through clenched teeth as he strained under his brother's weight. Though Sam was skinny, he was all muscle and just the fact that he was so freaking tall made him hard to manage. Dean bit back a groan of pain as the wound on his leg, where the spirit at the abandoned house earlier had touched him leaving a burn mark, made itself known as he limped along carrying most of his brother's weight.

The odd trio made their way out to Bobby's truck and Bobby opened the camper back for Dean to climb in pulling Sam in behind him. The younger man was barely conscious as they got him in the truck and Bobby was worried about how badly he was hurt. Dean propped Sam up against one of the sides of the truck, and Bobby handed him a first aid kit as he studied the two brothers for a moment.

Dean dug around in the first aid kit as he tried to keep an eye on his little brother too. Sam's eyes kept trying to close but Sam was fighting to stay conscious and he forced his eyes open once more as he tried to shift into a more comfortable position.

Dean kept one hand on the shirt over Sam's wound as he dug around in the first aid kit with the other. "Okay, Sam, we're gonna get you to a hospital okay? Get you all fixed up." He tried to keep his voice calm even though he felt anything but. He had to keep Sam calm. He could feel the shirt getting sticky with Sam's blood and grimaced slightly. _Damn, not good. _Dean then turned to Bobby realizing he was still standing there staring at them. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Bobby snapped out of his thoughts at Dean's order. In that moment he thought for sure that it was John sitting there instead of Dean. He sounded so much like his father. He finally got moving and shut the door. Once he was in the truck he put the pedal to the metal and tore out for the hospital.

Dean concentrated on his brother's face as he tried to stop the bleeding. His face was a mess of bruises and cuts and what skin wasn't bruised seemed almost translucent it was so white. Sam's eyes slid closed and Dean quickly tapped him on the cheek. "Come on, Sam. Stay with me man. You can't go to sleep yet."

Sam's eyes opened slowly and he tried to focus on his brother. He tried to speak but only ended up in a coughing fit. Flecks of blood speckled his face and Dean's heart dropped. _Shit, he must have punctured a lung._ Dean slid his fingers down his brother's neck so he could check his pulse. It was faint and erratic, but it was still there. His breathing was ragged and shallow as he struggled against his broken ribs and punctured lung. Each breath seemed harder than the last and Dean swallowed hard against the fear trying to overtake his senses.

The shirt held over the wound was almost soaked completely through and Dean grimaced at the thought of how much blood Sam had lost. "Okay, Sammy, I'm gonna have to take a look at that wound." Dean struggled to pull his brother's jacket off one-handed as he held the bloody shirt to the wound, and then lifted the blood soaked shirt away from Sam's side. It didn't look like much. Just a small cut in his side, but it continued to bleed in the few seconds Dean had released pressure on it. "Okay, it's not too bad." He tried to sound upbeat and ignored the shake in his voice that betrayed his fear. "You're going to be okay, Sam. We'll gonna get you all fixed up."

Dean replaced the blood shirt with a fresh wad of gauze putting more pressure on the wound. Sam groaned and bucked weakly against the pain that it caused but knew it had to be done.

Dean raked one hand through his hair not thinking about the blood on his hands as he reeled with what was happening. How had this happened? The demon hadn't even got close to stabbing Sam with that knife. Unless?

Dean looked at his brother's face and how pale it was. No, it couldn't have been a vision. But then…

Sam was fading in and out as pain washed over him. His shut his eyes as another wave of pain stabbed through him and he started to slide towards unconsciousness.

"Sam? No, come on. You gotta stay with me." Dean tapped his brother's face trying to get him to wake up. "Come on Sam open your eyes." Sam struggled to obey his brother and opened his eyes just barely. "That's it. Sam, stay with me." He pressed a fresh bandage to his side trying to stop the bleeding and Sam writhed in pain. "Sorry," Dean said softly as he winced in sympathy. He hated that he was causing Sam more pain.

Sam groaned and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down with the effort of staying awake. "Dean," he said weakly. Another coughing fit hit. This one sounding a little wetter than the last and Dean looked at his brother in concern.

"Yeah, Sam I'm here."

"Dean, did you get them?" Sam asked as he tried to focus on his brother with pain glazed eyes.

Dean looked sharply at his brother and noticed a slight shiver go through his brother's body. "Yeah Sam, we got them. Remember?" Dean's worry ratcheted up another notch at his brother's confusion knowing that Sam needed medical attention and soon. Sam nodded almost imperceptibly and closed his eyes again. Dean finished dressing the wound and put Sam's coat back over the top of him to keep him warm. He smoothed the jacket over his brother's shoulders and then took a deep breath in preparation for a difficult question. He then turned to his brother needing to ask a question, but not really wanting the answer. "Sam? Hey, Sam, did you have another vision? Sam?" He tapped his brother's face trying to keep him awake.

Sam blinked a couple times trying to focus on Dean as he tried to process what Dean had said.

"Did you have a vision of getting stabbed?" Dean asked, as he looked his brother in the eye.

Sam blinked a few more times and then held Dean's gaze and nodded.

Dean closed his eyes as his fears were confirmed. _Damn it!_ "What did you see?"

Sam struggled to pull his thoughts together and then swallowed hard. "I saw…I saw, Mom." He looked at Dean through mere slits waiting for his brother's reaction.

Dean's eyes flew open and widened at the answer. "Mom? What?"

Sam's eyes slid closed and he struggled to open them again. "She…knew…" Sam started to fade again. He just wanted to sleep. He was just so tired.

"Sam, come on, what else did you see?" Dean shook him slightly needing to know the answer.

Sam coughed slightly gasping for air as he tried to tell Dean what he had seen. "Me…stab…you…kill…demon…" Sam coughed some more still trying to suck in air and blood flecked against his lips again.

Dean saw how much Sam was struggling and kicked himself for trying to keep him awake. "Hey, Sam, it's okay. It's okay. You're gonna be okay. Sam? Sam!" Sam's eyes were closed again and his body relaxed against the truck bed. Dean checked for a pulse again and held his hand to his brother's mouth to make sure he was breathing. He had passed out.

Bobby flipped open the partition between the cab and the back so he could talk to Dean. "How's he doing?"

Dean looked at Bobby and then back to Sam. "Not good. I think he may have punctured a lung."

"How?" Bobby tried to look back into the camper to see the boys, but couldn't make them out in the dark shadows.

"I don't know. I think he had another vision." Dean watched his brother for the slightest distress wishing that this wasn't happening.

"A vision? How would a vision cause him to be stabbed?" asked Bobby.

Dean sighed heavily and then tried to explain. "The last few days, he's been getting visions. You know usually he just gets a killer headache afterwards, but these. Lately the wounds of the victims in his visions have been manifesting on him. I almost lost him a couple times already."

"Jesus Dean," breathed Bobby as the consequences of that finally hit him. "So, are you saying he might have had a vision of himself getting stabbed by the Demon?"

Dean's blood ran cold at the thought but it made sense. "Yeah, maybe. That might have been how he knew when the Demon was going to move." Sam's breathing was getting worse and Dean knew they didn't have much time. "How much farther, Bobby?"

"Not long. Maybe five minutes?" He could see the signs for the hospital up ahead and stepped a little harder on the gas.

Dean sighed in frustration. "Well hurry up then."

Bobby shook his head and closed the divider to the cab. Soon they were skidding into the Emergence Room bay at the hospital and Bobby sighed a little in relief. He tapped on the divider to let them know they were there and Dean sighed in relief. "Finally." He pulled his brother closer to the back door and when it opened seconds later, there stood two ER nurses with a gurney. "Help him, please. He's hurt pretty bad."

Dean let the nurses take Sam from him and then he climbed out afterwards ignoring his own injuries. He hobbled along behind his brother's gurney as the nurses sped Sam into the emergency room spouting off vitals and medical jargon as they went.

"Sir? Can you hear me?" one nurse asked as she shook Sam trying to get a response

"Sam." Dean spoke softly as he looked at his brother's pale face.

One nurse looked at him in confusion. "What?"

Dean then tore his eyes away from his brother to look at her. "His name's, Sam."

She smiled sadly. "Thanks." She then turned back to her patient. "Sam, can you hear me?"

Dean watched helplessly as they sped away down the hall leaving him to limp slowly behind. He could hear the doctors spouting off his brother's condition as they went.

"We've got what looks like a stab wound to the chest. BP is falling. Shallow, wet breaths. What's his heart rate? Okay, I want two units O neg and get an oxygen mask in here."

Dean watched as his brother disappeared behind the sliding doors that read 'Medical Staff Only' and his pace slowed until he was stopped in front of the doors. Bobby finally came up beside him wishing they knew what was going on behind those doors.

Dean was suddenly aware someone was tugging at his shirt and looked down at a pretty blonde nurse who smiled slightly at him. "Sir? Are you okay?"

Dean tore his eyes away from the doors once again not really hearing her question. "How's my brother?"

The nurse looked at him and then the doors behind her before answering. "I don't know for sure. The doctors need to take a closer look at him and then they'll know."

Dean nodded and then looked back at the doors with haunted eyes.

Bobby and the nurse exchanged worried looks and the nurse put her on the young man's arm again. "Sir? Why don't we go get you checked out? Your brother is in very good hands right now and we won't know anything for a little while."

Dean just stood there for a moment and then finally nodded letting the young woman guide him through the double doors and back to an exam room. Dean tried to catch a glimpse of his brother as he was guided to the room, but couldn't hear or see anything.

Dean numbly sat down on the exam table and winced as his jeans brushed against the burned hand print on his leg.

The nurse noticed the wince and quickly handed him one of the medical gowns. "Here put this on. I'll be right back."

With that she left and Dean just sat there holding the gown in his lap for a second trying to figure out what to do. He finally started to undress and tried to pull a story together in his head. All he could think of was how badly hurt Sam was. His brother had multiple wounds, and looking at the burn on his leg he wondered how he would explain that. The truth? He scoffed at the idea.

There was a knock on the door, and then a young man not much older than Dean himself came in followed closely by the nurse that had ushered him into the room earlier. "Hello. My name is Dr. Erickson. I'm gonna be your doctor today. Can you tell me your name?"

Dean hesitated for a moment as he searched his memory for which name they were using this week. "Dean Peterson. You can call me, Dean."

"Okay, Dean. Can you tell me what happened?" The doctor shown a penlight in his eyes checking his pupils and Dean tried to blink the spots from his eyes when he finished.

"No, I'm not sure." Usually Dean was quick to come up with a story, but right now all he could do was worry about his brother.

The doctor listened to his breathing and heart rate next. "Did you have a car accident?"

Dean again shook his head as he tried to take a deep breath and winced at the pain in his ribs. He then looked at the bruises on his face and around his wrists. "Looks like you might have been tied up. These are some pretty nasty rope burns here." While he was examining Dean's wrists his eyes caught the edge of the burn on his leg under the gown. Dr. Erickson looked up at Dean with raised eyebrows and searched the hunter's unemotional face. "May I?" he asked nodding towards the burn.

Dean looked at him and then nodded.

The doctor lifted the gown slightly to get a good look at the burn and frowned slightly. Was that a handprint? "How did you get this?" The burn was red and sort of glassy looking where the tissue had burned leaving little blisters all along the surface.

Dean shrugged slightly and winced when Dr. Erickson touched the edge of it. "I don't know. I must have got up against something hot," replied Dean evenly.

"Like what? A hand?" The doctor looked at Dean kind of out of the corner of his eye slightly begging that Dean would give him _some_ kind of explanation.

Dean just looked at him and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe?"

Dr. Erickson looked at him hard for a moment and then turned away with a heavy sigh. Dean knew he wasn't buying it, but he didn't know what to say. "Okay, well you don't seem to have a concussion. You're blood pressure and heart rate seem all right Maybe a little high, but that's understandable right now. I'm gonna put some salve on that burn and bandage it. You'll probably have a scar when it heals." As he talked he grabbed some bandages and then set to work on cleaning the burn. "It also looks like you might have some bruised or cracked ribs. I'd like to take an x-ray to make sure and then we'll wrap them for you."

Dean nodded that he understood. He figured that his ribs were probably just bruised but that wasn't anything new. The doctor was quite while he cleaned and dressed the burn on Dean's leg and then when he was finished he stepped back and regarded Dean for a few more moments.

Dean fidgeted slightly under the close scrutiny but never broke his gaze with the doctor. "So am I okay to go, Doc?" he finally asked to break the silence.

Dr. Erickson finally took a seat and Dean tried really hard not to roll his eyes at the gesture before the doctor spoke. "Dean, is there anything you want to tell me? Anything at all? It'll be held in the strictest confidence. Doctor-patient privilege and all that. Really, anything at all."

Dean just sat there watching him trying to figure where this was going. "No, there's nothing."

Dr. Erickson looked back at the nurse and she quietly got up and left the room. Dean frowned in confusion trying to figure out what was going on.

"Dean. I think you know what happened. Your brother has multiple injuries, which don't seem to be related, and it looks like he was beat up pretty good too. If something bad happened to you and your brother, then maybe we can catch the people who did this."

Dean just stared at him for a moment not sure what to say. What would he say? _Well, yes, my brother was taken hostage by two demons and tortured while a nasty spirit took me who has a tendency to burn people with her hands. And, by the way, my brother's been having visions that are causing him physical pain? _Yeah right. "I told you. I don't know what happened?"

They looked at each other for a moment and then finally Dr. Erickson broke eye contact. "Okay. I don't see anything seriously wrong with you. I want you to get an x-ray of your ribs to make sure there are no breaks and then I think you can probably go. I'll give you some salve for your burn. Make sure to change the dressing on it every day so that it doesn't get infected"

Dean nodded. "Hey, Doc. How's my brother?"

Dr. Erickson sighed slightly. "I'm not quite sure. I'm not his doctor. I know he's in good hands though. Make sure you see the nurse at the desk when you leave." With that he left Dean alone to get dressed.

A/N: I know. Not too much action in this chapter. Lots of dialogue. Don't worry the next chapter should be better. Please review if you want to.


	3. Chapter 3

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 3

Summary: The brothers deal with the aftermath of Sam's visions manifesting physically and also try to figure out what plans the yellow-eyed demon has in store for them both.

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry. Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

Dean slowly limped out of the emergency room past the reception desk and to the waiting room. The events of the day were starting to catch up to him and every muscle in his body screamed for him to just lie down and rest.

Bobby sat in one of the hard plastic chairs leaned up against the wall, his baseball cap pulled low over his eyes as if he were sleeping; but Dean knew better. As Dean approached, the older hunter sat and gave Dean a once over.

"Man, you've looked better," said Bobby as greeting.

Dean laughed tiredly as he sat down next to him with a grimace. "Gee, thanks." He sighed in relief as he looked around the empty room. "Why do they always make these chairs so uncomfortable?" he asked and looked at Bobby wearily.

Bobby just shrugged. He reached beside him and picked up two clipboards full of papers. "I wasn't sure what to put down, so I just thought I'd leave it up to you."

Dean looked down at the stack of papers and sighed. "Oh, great," he grumbled and started filling them out trying to remember details of the fake I.D.'s and insurance cards they had.

"So what _is_ the deal?" asked Bobby softly so he wouldn't be overheard by the nurse at the desk.

Dean sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking. "Well, I just told them I wasn't sure what happened. Said I couldn't remember. But we both know that won't last long."

Bobby nodded his agreement.

"Hey, any word on, Sam?" Dean finally asked with concern in his eyes.

Bobby shook his head. "Not much. I think they're still checking him out. Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Dean nodded slightly as he stared of into space, worry plastered all over his face. "Yeah, Sam will be okay."

Bobby nodded in agreement knowing that Dean was trying to reassure himself of that just as much as Bobby was.

Dean finished the paperwork and took it up to the nurse giving her the fake insurance cards and hoping that it would be enough. He then asked about Sam and she went to go find the doctor.

It seemed like forever before the doctor came. He was a younger man. Maybe slightly older than Dean himself and had blue scrubs on.

"Mr. Coolidge?" the doctor asked and Dean and Bobby both stood up.

"Yes? How's my brother?" Dean asked quickly.

The doctor looked at Bobby and then at Dean "Maybe we should go somewhere private."

Dean looked at Bobby. "It's okay. He's practically family."

The doctor nodded and indicated for them to sit. "My name's Dr. Howitz. I'm your brother's doctor. Right now he's in critical condition, but stable."

Dean swallowed visibly but nodded for the doctor to continue.

"We had to go in and repair some damage. He had a collapsed lung and some broken ribs. Plus it looked like he had been shot sometime recently."

Dean tried to look shocked at this news. "Shot? How?"

Dr. Howitz shook his head. "We don't know for sure. There wasn't any bullet, but it definitely looks like a gunshot wound in his left shoulder. Plus, he's been beaten pretty badly. It's gonna take time, but I think he'll make a full recovery."

Dean sighed in relief. "Oh, thank you. When can I see him?"

The doctor looked at Dean hard for a moment looking like he was trying to decide if he wanted to say something. "You can see him now if you like. I'll get a nurse to take you to his room. Also, when you get done, you'll need to talk to the police."

Dean's gut tightened in fear. "The police? Why would I need to talk to the police?" They tried to avoid the police as much as possible in their line of work the police usually asked questions that they couldn't answer and they always seemed to cause more trouble for the brothers.

The doctor looked slightly puzzled at Dean's questions. "Well, it looks like your brother has been shot, and it's the law to report any gunshot wounds…and quite frankly the circumstances of how you and your brother got hurt seem kind of sketchy. I'd think you'd want to know what exactly happened." The doctor studied Dean's face closely trying to figure out if he had something to hide.

Dean then sat back hesitantly trying not to look too worried. "Well, yes…I do want to know. It just…it hadn't occurred to me that I would need to talk to the police tonight. You know after everything that has happened." Dean studied the doctor's face hoping his answer eased the doctor's suspicions; but by the look of it, it hadn't.

"Okay, if you want to come with me we'll let you see your brother now." The doctor turned back toward the ER and Dean looked at Bobby.

Bobby nodded in the direction Dr. Howitz had gone and said, "Go on. I'll be here."

Dean nodded his thanks and went after the doctor.

One of the nurses led Dean down the hall and Dean could feel his nervousness about seeing his brother.

"Now what did the doctor tell you about your brother?" asked the nurse. Her name was Karen.

Dean looked at her oddly as they continued down the hall. "Just that he is in critical but stable condition and that after a while he'll be fine. Why?"

"Well, I just wanted to prepare you for what you're going to see when you see your brother."

Dean stopped and looked at the nurse asking for an explanation. "Now, he's still in the ICU, but it's just procedure. The doctors just want to keep him under close observation for the next twenty-four hours to make sure there are no complications. So don't be too worried about all the wires and monitors. Your brother is okay. All right?"

She searched Dean's face for understanding but only found a look of slight fear before he close it off and then a look of determination replaced it. He nodded that he understood and she smiled slightly at him.

"Okay, he's in there. Don't stay too long. He needs to sleep. He may not be too coherent. They've got him on some pretty heavy painkillers, but just talked to him." She started to walk away but Dean stopped her.

"I can't stay with him?" he asked almost child like.

She gave him a sympathetic look and shook her head. "Not right now. Let him rest tonight. He should be out of ICU tomorrow, and then we'll see."

She then left Dean and he just stood there feeling kind of shell-shocked. He couldn't stay with his little brother. Since Sam had come back from college the two of them hadn't been apart for more than a few hours at a time and Dean felt lost not being able to stay with Sam. How was he supposed to protect him? He took a big breath trying to steady his nerves and then walked into the room.

His heart sank when he saw Sam lying there amongst all the wires and monitors. The parts of Sam he could see were black and blue or bandaged. His face was a mess of bruises and his eyes were swollen shut. His nose had also been broken and was swollen to almost twice its regular size. An oxygen mask hissed softly in the quiet of the room. The only other noise was the constant beeping of a heart monitor.

"Oh, Sammy," Dean said in almost a whisper. He walked over to his brother taking in all his injuries in pained silence. Somehow seeing him like this, all bandaged and so still lying in a hospital bed made it all so much worse.

He took his little brother's hand and ran his hand through his brother's long hair. "I'm so sorry, Sammy. I should've gotten there sooner."

His brother was still and didn't even acknowledge that Dean was there. Dean didn't realize he was crying until a tear slipped down his face and fell onto the bedding.

It was his fault that his brother was hurt. Why did this have to happen? It was his job to protect him. He was the big brother. It had been his job since his father had placed Sam in his arms that fateful night that their mother had died and told him to take him outside. He was supposed to watch out for, Sammy.

Dean sobbed quietly and before long his despair turned into anger. Anger at himself for being so weak. For Sam sneaking out and getting caught. For everything they had to put up with. "Why did you have to sneak out? Huh?" he asked bitterly. "Why couldn't you have just stayed at the motel. I mean none of this would've happened if you would've just stayed put. Damn it, Sam!" His voice was gruff with emotion and it didn't help matters when his brother still didn't respond.

More silent tears fell down his face and he sighed in frustration. "Sorry, Sam. It's just…I don't like seeing you this way." Dean sniffed and wiped away some of his tears before chuckling tiredly. "But, hey at least you kept up your title of being the best supernatural bait. It seems that demons and ghost can't get enough of beating you up." He smiled sadly and then gently rubbed the back of his brother's hand with his thumb.

"Just get better, Sam. I don't think I can do this without you." He ran his hand through Sam's hair again and then he thought he felt it. Sam's hand twitched and Dean held his breath wondering if he was imagining it. Then it happened again.

"Sam? Sam can you hear me?" Sam's fingers curled around his and Dean smiled slightly. He searched his brother's face for signs that he was waking, but couldn't tell with all the damage that had been done. Sam's head twitched slightly and he groaned faintly "It's okay, Sam. Everything will be okay. You're safe." Dean could see that Sam was struggling to wake up and Dean stroked his brother's hair trying to keep him calm. "Hey, it's okay. Don't try to open your eyes. Just go back to sleep, okay? Everything's okay now."

Dean continued to brush his fingers through Sam's hair and soon Sam settled back down and went back to sleep. Dean smiled slightly as he studied his little brother's face and then finally slipped his hand from Sam's.

"Don't worry, Sam. I'll be back before you know it. You just rest." He then slipped silently out of the room. He stood in the hall for a moment trying to pull himself back together. He didn't want Bobby to know that he'd been crying.

As he walked down the hall, he could see a police officer standing at the nurses' station and he stopped for a moment. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to fight back the headache that was forming behind his eyes and tried to focus his thoughts. He really didn't want to do this right now. His body ached and he was so tired. All he wanted to do was lay down and sleep for a week.

He sighed heavily trying to prepare himself for what he had to do and then headed on down the hall.

The nurse nodded in his direction and the policeman turned to Dean. "Excuse, me. Are you, Mr. Coolidge?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah?"

"I'm, Detective Colt. I'd like to ask you a few questions about what happened to you and your brother."

Dean shifted uneasily looking at anything and everything but the detective. "Look, I told the doctor that I didn't really know what happened. I just found, Sammy, is all."

"Yeah, I know. But maybe if I could ask you a few questions? Maybe you'll remember something. Get an idea of when he disappeared. That sort of thing." The detective looked expectantly at Dean and Dean sighed wearily.

"Okay. Yeah sure I guess."

The detective had Dean follow him into a private room and they sat down. Dean's foot immediately began to tap and he fumbled with the edges of his shirt. His mind raced with thoughts of what to tell the detective and what not to. He hated talking to the cops. It was always a delicate balance of what to say and not. What could he say and still sound plausible but not have them think he's nuts.

For his part Detective Colt seemed pretty calm and didn't comment on Dean's apparent nervousness. He was a well built man with salt and pepper hair meaning he had probably been on the force for a while and would be harder to fool than some rookie and Dean groaned inwardly at this thought.

"Okay. Now your name is Dean Coolidge?"

Dean nodded.

"And your brother's name?"

"Sam."

"Are you two from around here?"

Dean shook his head. "No. We were just passing through. We're kind of on a road trip. Just the two of us."

"And where are you guys staying?"

Dean paused for a second. "Uh, at one of the motels out by the highway. The Rodeo Inn I think it's called."

The detective wrote down this information. "And when was the last time you saw your brother…before tonight of course."

Dean had to think for a moment. "Last night, I guess. About ten o'clock. I wanted to go out to blow off some steam, but he didn't want to. He's not really the partying type. So I went to one of the local bars."

"Which one?"

Dean shrugged slightly. "I don't really remember. I got pretty wasted."

The detective jotted a few more notes. "Didn't you notice when you came back that your brother was missing?"

"Well, like I said I was pretty drunk. Instead of driving back to the motel I just decided to sleep in my car and then head back the next morning."

Detective Colt smiled slightly. "You must have been really drunk. I bet you had a doozy of a hangover this morning."

Dean chuckled slightly. "You have no idea."

"So when did you realize your brother was missing?"

"Uh, I guess I started getting worried about three in the afternoon? I got back to the motel about ten and he wasn't there. I just assumed he probably went to get something to eat and to look for me. But when he didn't return by dark I knew something was wrong." Dean fidgeted. He though this was going pretty good, but the detective was sure asking some hard questions. _Just keep cool, Dean. You're almost done. _

"So you went to go look for him?"

"Yeah, Bobby our friend was in the area hunting so I asked him to come help. We thought two people searching was better than one." Dean rubbed his forehead slightly as his headache started to flare.

"Why didn't you just call the police?" asked Detective Colt as he studied Dean.

"Look. I just thought that he was out looking for me and thought maybe…I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

The detective just looked at him. "Are you nervous, Mr. Coolidge?"

"No. Why?" asked Dean.

"Well, you seem awful jumpy. Your foot's twitching and you're playing with your hands. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're hiding something."

Dean stopped tapping his foot and tried to calm his hands. "No, I'm not hiding anything. I'm just worried about my brother. Okay?"

Detective Colt just looked at him again.

'_Shit. This isn't working,' thought Dean._

"So where'd you find your brother?"

"Where?" asked Dean trying to figure out what to tell him.

"Yes. Where?" the detective repeated.

Dean looked down at his hands and he started tapping his foot again. He felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat he was so nervous. "I, uh…I found him…"

Dean knew exactly where he found his brother. He could still see the image perfectly in his mind. His brother tied to a chair beaten horribly and the Yellow Eyed Demon holding a knife to his throat.

The detective was saying something to him, but he couldn't hear what it was. All he could see was Sam's broken body sitting there. The amount of blood he'd lost and the amount of damage done. It suddenly hit him how close he'd come to losing his baby brother that night and his stomach flipped. He suddenly felt light-headed and he shook his head trying to clear it a little. He looked at Detective Colt and his image became blurry. Maybe if he closed his eyes for awhile it would clear.

Dean swayed slightly and shook his head.

"Are you all right?" asked Detective Colt.

He watched the boy carefully as he suddenly paled and his eyes became unfocused.

"Mr. Coolidge?"

Dean looked at him and then suddenly his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell off his chair landing with a sickening crack against the floor.

"Mr. Coolidge?" Detective Colt leaned down and shook Dean. His body moved bonelessly with the movement and his head swayed back and forth. The detective smacked Dean's cheek lightly and still he didn't wake up. "Dean? Dean!"

He opened the door and yelled for help.

A/N: Hoped you liked it. Please send me a review if you did. More soon to follow.


	4. Chapter 4

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 4

Summary: The brothers deal with the aftermath of Sam's visions manifesting physically and also try to figure out what plans the yellow-eyed demon has in store for them both.

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry. Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

Dean tried to open his eyes but they didn't want to cooperate. His eyelids felt like they had been glued together and after a few tries he finally gave up. He groaned as his head began to throb and he tried to raise a very heavy arm to his head. Boy, he must have really tied one on last night if he felt like this.

"Morning, Sunshine."

The gruff voice that greeted him seemed semi-familiar, but at the moment Dean couldn't place it. He knew it wasn't Sam. He groaned again and finally managed to crack open his eyes and wished he hadn't. The sun streaming through the window felt like a strobe light trying to pierce his brain and he quickly closed his eyes again.

He moved to turn away from the blinding sun and his leg gave a sharp twinge. He grimaced in pain and lay still for a while trying to let some of the fog clear from his brain. Finally his brain kicked in and he could tell who had spoken to him. "Bobby?" he asked groggily.

"Yeah, kid. It's me."

Dean cracked open his eyes again and found Bobby sitting in a chair next to the bed looking at him expectantly. Dean swallowed slowly trying to work some moisture into his throat and then asked, "What happened?"

Dean tried to pull the pieces of his memory back together as he reached up to rub his aching head and found that there was a bandage surrounding it. He frowned in confusion and looked at Bobby for an explanation.

"Well, I guess you fainted and cracked your head on the floor. I guess pretty good seeing as you needed stitches."

Dean could feel color creeping into his cheeks at the mention of him fainting. He didn't faint. Why had he done that? And then it all came back to him: the ghost, Sam being kidnapped, Sam hurt, Sam possibly dying. His eyes shot open and he was instantly awake. He looked at Bobby again with worry. "And, Sam?"

"He's fine," Bobby said reassuringly. "He's still in ICU."

Dean started to throw the covers back and get up and then swayed slightly as he tried to sit up.

Bobby quickly stood and put a restraining hand on Dean's shoulder. "Now just take it easy. We don't want a repeat performance of last night."

Dean finally gave in and lay back on the bed as his vision swam slightly.

"Let me go see if I can find a nurse to come check on you. Don't move." Bobby quickly left the room, and as soon as he was gone Dean tried to sit up in bed again.

His whole body ached with the events of last night and fatigue. Plus, the burn on his leg throbbed slightly when he tried to move it. Finally Dean made it to a sitting position and just sat there for a while trying to get his bearings. By the time Bobby returned Dean had swung his legs over the edge and was eyeing the door to the bathroom.

Bobby walked into the room and then shook his head at the young man. "I swear, you Winchesters are the most stubborn fools I've ever met." He quickly walked over to the bed and tried to get Dean to lay back down but Dean just pushed him away.

"Bobby, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Can you at least wait five minutes so the nurse can come check on you?" said Bobby trying to bully Dean back into bed.

"I got use the can. So unless you want to clean up after me I suggest you let me get up," Dean growled and fixed Bobby with a hard glare.

Bobby just shook his head and then stood by in case Dean needed some help. The young hunter got to his feet shakily and then finally found his feet. He shuffled slowly to the bathroom cursing his aching body the whole time.

Bobby just chuckled softly to himself and then sat down to wait.

Soon the door opened and Dean came shuffling back to the bed. He glared out the window at the bright sun and then gave a small sigh of relief when he lay back down. "Ugh, what time is it?"

Bobby looked at his watch. "About ten o'clock. Not too bad considering you practically knocked yourself out."

Dean chuckled softly. "Yeah, I guess. Have you been here all night?"

Bobby shrugged. "Yeah. But hey, beats spending all night in another crappy motel."

Dean smiled slightly at this. It was a very rare night that he and Sam didn't stay at a motel considering how much they moved around. Once and a while they stayed with family friends, like Bobby. But most of the time they found the cheapest place they could find.

The nurse came in the door and smiled brightly at Dean. "Good morning. Nice to see you're up and about. You gave us quite a scare last night."

Dean looked her over as she picked up his chart. She wasn't too hard too hard on the eyes with her shapely body and pretty face. Dean immediately started to turn on the charm as she came around the bed to check his vitals. "Yeah, sorry about that," he said with a smile on his face.

She just smiled at him and continued to take his pulse. "So how you feeling today?"

"Pretty good." She checked his breathing and shown a light in his eyes.

"How's the head feel?" she asked as she checked the bandage.

"Like I've got men at work in it."

She smiled slightly at that. "Yeah. I bet. How about your leg?" she pulled back the cover slightly so she could check the bandage over the burn and Dean twitched slightly at her touch.

"Not too bad. Sore of course." He winced slightly as the tape pulled at the hair on his leg but otherwise held still.

The nurse replaced the bandage and then rolled the covers back up. "Okay. Everything seems to be good. I'll have the doctor come in and take a look at you here in a little bit."

She started to walk off and Dean grabbed her arm to stop her. "Hey. How's my brother, Sam Coolidge?"

She paused for a second considering what to tell him. "I'm not sure. I just got on duty a couple hours ago so I don't know too much. I'll let the doctor know you're awake." She walked out leaving the two hunters alone with their thoughts.

"So now what?" asked Bobby.

Dean paused trying to figure that out. "I don't know. One things for sure. I'm gonna see when I can get released from this place. I hate hospitals." Dean said in disgust.

Bobby just laughed.

Most hunters hated hospitals. In their line of work they always saw too much of them. Usually, they tried to patch their wounds themselves as much as possible. Too many visits to the ER and people got suspicious. It was only when it became absolutely necessary, like someone was dying, that they went to a hospital. So, yeah, not their favorite place to visit.

Dr. Howitz walked in shortly after that and greeted the two men with a smile. "Hello, Dean. And how are you doing today?"

Dean nodded. "Pretty good considering. I was wondering when I could get out of here?"

Dr. Howitz just chuckled softly and looked at Dean's chart. "Well let's take a look at you and then we'll see about that. The nurse said your head and leg were hurting some, but of course you did bang your head pretty hard last night didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I did," Dean said sheepishly looking over at Bobby who was grinning at Dean's embarrassment.

The doctor quickly examined him checking the stitches in his head and the burn on his leg. Dean winced slightly as he got another look at the burnt handprint on his leg. He had to admit it didn't look great with big blisters covering the area and the surrounding skin red raw.

"Well, it doesn't look like you've got any infection, but we'll give you some antibiotics just in case. Also, you'll need to keep putting salve on that burn so it'll heal properly. It doesn't seem like you have a concussion either so I'd say it's probably safe to send you home." The doctor smiled when he saw Dean smile with great relief. "I take it you don't like hospitals?"

Dean just looked at him in disbelief. "Not really. How did you-"

"I heard you talking when I came in. Don't worry. Even I don't like hospitals sometimes. I'll get a nurse to draw up a release form for you so you can get out of here."

Dean smiled slightly and nodded. "Thanks. Hey, doc?" Dr. Howitz looked at Dean. "How's my brother doing?"

The doctor paused considering, and for some reason this didn't make Dean feel any better. He could feel his stomach clench in apprehension. "He's good. He's stable now. We…had a few rough spots during the night, but he's better now. We're hoping we can take him out of ICU by tonight."

Dean looked at his quizzically. "Rough spots? What happened?"

The doc played with his stethoscope for a moment before answering. "Well, it's been a little difficult to get the bleeding to stop from the wound in his side. Apparently he kept waking up and would try to get up causing the stitches to reopen. We finally sedated him so he would sleep and it's gotten better since then. We've given him several units of blood to replace what he's lost. But like I said he's in stable condition now and is recovering well."

Dean tried to absorb all this and tried not to panic at the thought that they had had to sedate his little brother. "How long before you think he can go home?"

The doctor sighed. "Well, if everything goes well. Maybe a week or so, but he'll be laid up for quite a while. He'll need time, particularly for the wound in his side, to heal. If he takes it too fast he could cause himself a lot more damage. We'll just have to see how it goes. Any more questions?"

Dean shook his head.

The doctor left and he and Bobby just looked at each other realizing just how close they'd come to loosing Sam.

It tore Dean up that he couldn't protect his brother better than this. But at least he was still alive. That was something.

There was a knock at the door and then Detective Colt walked in. "Mr. Coolidge? How you doing today?"

Dean's face reddened slightly embarrassed that he had fainted in front of the man. "I'm good. Hey, sorry if I scared you last night. It'd been a rough day."

The detective waved it off as nothing. "Just glad you're okay. I was wondering if we could continue our talk from last night. If that's all right with you?"

_Crap._ Dean had hoped he wouldn't have to continue with this. He didn't know what to tell them about last night. Some of the details he didn't really know, and the ones he did could have the police thinking he belonged in the loony bin. "Yeah, I guess we can do that. Uh, Bobby, would you wait outside?"

Bobby nodded and then left giving the detective a sideways glance. He sure hoped this didn't backfire on the two brothers. That would be all they needed. And with their luck, anything could happen.

Detective Colt sat down in the hard plastic chair that Bobby had just vacated and looked at Dean expectantly.

Dean picked at the sheets slightly and then looked up at the detective. "So where were we?" asked Dean.

Detective Colt pulled out his notebook and folded it open to the last sheet. "Uh, you were about to tell me where you found your brother."

Dean nodded trying to think of what to tell him and what not to. Suddenly an idea came to him. "Right. Uh…well me and Bobby went looking for Sam thinking he was probably looking for me at one of the bars. So we checked them out and nobody had seen him. I tried his cell phone a couple times, but didn't get any response. Finally, we decided to head back towards the motel and, uh…We found him. He was on the side of the road." Dean paused long enough to make it look like it was difficult for him to talk about it and then continued with his story. "It looked like somebody had dumped him there. He was hurt pretty bad so we drove him to the hospital as quickly as we could."

Detective Colt had quit taking notes a while back and he just sat there looking at Dean with a look of incredulity. "You found him on the side of the road?" he asked skeptically.

Dean nodded.

"What made you think you might find him there?"

Dean shrugged. "I didn't. We were just driving along and I spotted something along side the road, and it turned out to be him."

"Uh-huh."

Dean knew his story sounded like crap, but he had hoped that the guy would buy. So far it wasn't working.

Finally the detective closed his notebook and sat forward on his chair sighing heavily. "Son, why don't you tell me the truth?"

Dean tried to look like he had no idea what he was talking about even though he was cursing inside for not coming up with a more plausible story. "What? That's what happened. He was missing. We went to find him, and we found him just like I said."

Detective Colt sighed in frustration and rubbed a hand over his face. "Okay. You see, I think you're lying to me. In fact I think I can prove it." He pinned Dean with a hard stare and Dean hoped he didn't look too nervous. "Do you wanna hear what I think happened?"

Dean scoffed at this. _Oh this should be rich._ "Okay, what do you think happened," he said as he folded his arms across his chest.

The detective sat back in his chair never taking his eyes off of Dean. "Okay. This is what I think happened. I think maybe you two had a fight, and you took off to blow off some steam. You went out, got drunk. Then after that, you were still angry so you decided to give it some more time to blow over. I think that's why you stayed out all night. The next day when you returned and found your brother gone you probably thought he was still mad and so you didn't worry at first. But as the day got later, you started to worry. That's when you went looking for him."

He paused waiting to see if Dean would say anything, and when he didn't he continued. "Now this is where it gets a little sketchy. I think your brother went looking for you when you didn't return the next morning, and saw something he wasn't supposed to."

Dean frowned slightly trying to figure out where he was going with this.

"You see, we had a cop get killed yesterday afternoon. Beaten to death. I think your brother witnessed this murder and then got caught. They didn't know what he saw, so they took him." The detective took out some pictures and showed one to Dean. It was of Jane's house and showed the chair that Sam had been tied to when they found him. "We found evidence that someone had been held captive there. And by the amount of blood found, they were hurt pretty bad. How am I doing so far?"

He studied Dean's face as he looked at the photograph for some recognition and Dean hoped that the play of emotions across his face wasn't too obvious. Dean tried to calm his features and handed the photo back. "Sounds possible so far."

The detective nodded and then continued. "I think after beating the truth out of him, they realized he knew too much. That's when they decided to get rid of him. They couldn't have someone sticking around who could identify them for a murder of a cop."

Dean gulped slightly trying to take everything in that the detective was telling him. His story sounded so possible. Dean wondered if parts of it really were true.

"The only thing I'm not sure of is what happened next. You see…when we went to serve the warrant this morning. We found our suspect for the cop killing and the suspect from another crime both dead." He was quiet for a while looking at Dean who was studying his hands and not looking at him. "You wouldn't know anything about that now would you?"

Dean didn't look at him for a long moment and then finally glanced at the detective sideways. "Now why would you think I'd know something about that?" He then looked up at the detective with what he hoped was questioning eyes.

"Well, frankly your story seems a little weak, and I think if I investigated a little more I think it would completely fall apart at the seems. Now if this…'theory' were true? I could understand why you'd be reluctant to say anything. But you gotta know, the evidence will tell the truth in the end."

Shit. They were so screwed. Dean couldn't lie his way out of this one. It was a matter of time before they would match up ballistics and discover that they had shot those people. And the blood they found would match Sam's and then what…There was no way they could run. Not with what condition Sammy was in. Dean then made a hard decision. "Okay. Say if what you just said was mostly true. Then what?"

"Well, we'd probably take your statement and your brother's when he wakes up and then go from there. Since your brother was kidnapped and tortured and almost killed that will lend some sort of defense for what happened, but we'll have to see if the evidence supports whether you killed the two suspects, or whether they killed each other."

Dean wasn't sure what to do. The story Detective Colt had told him sounded like it would work, but it still wasn't airtight. Of course, the police wouldn't have a gun to compare the bullets to. They wouldn't match up to anything that could lead back to the brothers.

"Okay, yes. That's what happened. But seriously, I did find my brother on the side of the road. Is…is that what you think really happened to Sam?" Dean asked with fear in his eyes. Maybe that was what had happened to Sam. Had he had another vision about Jane killing that officer and had went to stop it? That would explain why he'd left and went to Jane's house. Too bad it had been a trap.

Detective Colt just stared at him for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe. You're sure you found him."

Now it was Dean's turn to just stare. "Yes. How many times do I have to say it? We found him. What…did you think we tracked him down and killed his kidnappers?"

Detective Colt was silent at this.

"You did. Look, I love my brother, but I couldn't kill another human being for him." _Now a demon possessed person who's trying to kill me too. That's another story._

The detective asked him a few more questions and then finally stood to leave. "Okay. I'll keep in touch. I think I know where I can find you at least for a while." He reached out a hand to Dean and Dean shook it feeling kind of numb. Somehow that had gone a lot better than he thought it would.

Detective Howitz started to turn and then stop. "Hey."

Dean looked up at the cop waiting.

"I hope your brother gets better soon."

Dean just nodded and watched the man leave.

_Three days later._

They had eventually let Sammy out of ICU. Thank, God. But they had decided to keep him sedated for at least two more days to give the wound in his side a little more time to heal. Today they decide that it was time that he woke up, and Dean wanted to be there when he did.

It had been pure hell waiting by his brother's side knowing that he wasn't going to wake up until the doctors wanted him too.

Bobby tried to distract him with details of his investigation into why he thought the ghost they had cleaned up so many years ago was back. But Dean was only half listening most of the time.

Dean now sat by his brother's bed looking at a car magazine he had bought at the quick mart down the street. Some of the muscle cars were a sight to behold and Dean drooled at the pictures.

If he could have his pick Dean probably would have given his left nut to have a few of them, but nothing could replace his baby. The Chevy Impala had saved their lives more than once on the job and it was a fine piece of machinery. Plus, it had been the closest thing to a home either of the brothers had had for the last twenty-odd years.

But it never hurt to dream did it?

Sam gave a slight groan and Dean was instantly alert and by his brother's side. "Sam? Can you hear me?" He took his brother's hand as Sam groaned again moving his head back and forth slightly as he tried to wake up.

"Sam? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me?"

He felt a slight squeeze and his face lit up. His brother was awake. He pushed the call button repeatedly and finally a nurse came in to check what was wrong. "I think he's waking up," Dean told her as he continued to look at Sam's fluttering eyelids.

She came closer and began taking Sam's vitals.

Sam groaned and tried to lift his hand to stop her when she shined a light in his eyes. "Dean." It was barely audible but Dean had heard it.

"I'm here, Sammy. You're gonna be okay now." He squeezed his brother's hand again and could feel tears start to well in his eyes.

The nurse commented that she'd be right back and left the two brothers alone in the room.

"Dean," Sam whispered again, as he became more conscious.

"Yeah, Sammy. I'm here." Dean ran his fingers through his brother's hair and Sam tilted towards the touch. "Hey, Sammy, can you open your eyes?"

Sam struggled to obey his brother's request but only succeeded in opening them a crack against the bright light.

"Hey, buddy. Nice to see you awake." Dean smiled at Sam happy to see even a smidge of those big brown eyes. "How do you feel?"

Sam's eyes closed again. "Thirsty."

Dean took a cup with a straw and helped his brother lean forward so he could take a sip.

Even after three days, Sam still looked pretty bad. His face and eyes were still black and blue and his bottom lip was split. When Sam was finished Dean laid his brother's head back down on the pillow and Sam sighed like that little movement had completely worn him out.

"What happened?" asked Sam as he blinked slowly.

Dean hesitated not knowing exactly what to tell his brother. A lot had happened and he didn't know what Sam remembered for sure. "You got beat up pretty good. We almost lost you there for a bit, but that's all over now. Before you know it you'll be outta here."

The doctor came in with the nurse then and Dean sat back to allow them a chance to see Sam.

"Sam? My name is Dr. Howitz. I've been taking care of you. How are you feeling?"

Sam tried to look at the doctor but couldn't quite focus on him. He then closed his eyes unable to keep them open any longer. "Tired."

"Well that's partly the drugs. They'll wear off before too long though. Any pain?"

Sam swallowed and then shook his head slowly. "No."

Dean could tell his brother was fading fast and wished that the doctor would hurry up.

"That's good. That means the painkillers are working. I'm gonna look at your wounds a little bit here. Do you remember anything that happened to you?" He leaned over Sam to check his bandages and Sammy thought hard for a while trying to remember but everything was just a jumble.

"No. Not…really." He blinked again and fought to open his eyes. He wanted to stay awake to talk with his brother, but he was just so tired he couldn't even keep his eyes open any more.

"Okay. Everything looks good for now. I'm gonna let you sleep. We'll talk more later." He and the nurse left then and Dean looked at his brother.

Dean could tell that Sam was struggling to stay awake and he took his brother's hand again.

"Dean?" Sam asked groggily.

"Yeah, Sammy?"

"What…happened?" His words slurred and Dean could tell that Sam was more asleep than awake.

Dean put a hand to Sam's forehead and started to stroke his thumb across his brother's brow. "Not right now, Sam. You go back to sleep. We'll talk later when you can stay awake."

Sam tried to open his eyes but his eyelids only flickered a little. "Kay." With that he fell back asleep his breathing deepening as he drifted off.

Dean sighed in relief and ran his free hand over his face. His brother was awake if only for a little bit. Dean could feel a bit of relief start to wash through him with that thought. He looked at his little brother's broken body and his gut tightened with worry.

He wasn't sure what Sam would remember about what happened, if anything. _Please, don't let him remember anything._ But that was only wishful thinking. He slid his fingers through his brother's shaggy hair once more and then sat back down in his chair.

Suddenly he felt tired himself as the stress of worrying about his brother and hardly sleeping for the past week started to wear on him. Dean tried to shake away the sleepiness and settled into the hard plastic chair once again to wait for Sam to wake up. He picked up his magazine and started to read an article on engines. He hadn't even read one page before he fell asleep.

A/N: Not sure how good this chapter was. A lot of talking in it. Let me know what you think by sending me a review. I'd love to hear from you.


	5. Chapter 5

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 5

Summary: The brothers deal with the aftermath of Sam's visions manifesting physically and also try to figure out what plans the yellow-eyed demon has in store for them both.

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one. If you want to read it go to my favorite stories and click on the link.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry. Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give and I'll try to respond more in the future.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

_Previously on Supernatural:_

_Dean sighed in relief and ran his free hand over his face. His brother was awake if only for a little bit. Dean could feel a bit of relief start to wash through him with that thought. He looked at his little brother's broken body and his gut tightened with worry. _

_He wasn't sure what Sam would remember about what happened, if anything. Please, don't let him remember anything. But that was only wishful thinking. He slid his fingers through his brother's shaggy hair once more and then sat back down in his chair. _

_Suddenly he felt tired himself as the stress of worrying about his brother and hardly sleeping for the past week started to wear on him. Dean tried to shake away the sleepiness and settled into the hard plastic chair once again to wait for Sam to wake up. He picked up his magazine and started to read an article on engines. He hadn't even read one page before he fell asleep._

_Now:_

Sam slowly woke and forced his eyes to open. He groaned slightly as consciousness brought back the pain and grimaced slightly as a wave of pain swept through him. He felt as if he'd went ten rounds with a wendigo and the wendigo had won. His whole body hurt.

He blinked lazily trying to get his vision to clear and looked around the stark white room trying to figure out where he was. The shadows were long against the wall and he guessed that it was late afternoon or early evening. He could hear a soft beeping to his left and turned to see an I.V. bag and a heart monitor. So he was in the hospital. But why?

He searched his foggy brain trying to remember, but couldn't get the pieces to fall into place. As his mind became a little clearer he realized he could hear a soft snore on his right and turned to see his brother asleep in the chair. Dean's head was lying on his chest and a car magazine sat precariously in his lap. Sam smiled slightly at this sight. His brother looked so peaceful when he slept.

"You're awake." Came a soft whisper from the doorway.

Sam turned to see a young nurse come into the room and he tried to smile. "Yeah." He tried to say but no words came out. His throat felt so dry.

"Do you want a drink?" she asked as she reached for the water pitcher.

Sam nodded and she helped him take a few sips from a cup.

"Do you need anything else?" she whispered as she checked his vitals and I.V. bag.

Sam shook his head no.

"Do you have any pain?"

Sam swallowed heavily but shook his head. "Not really. I'm okay for now."

The nurse smiled slightly. "Okay. You call if it gets to be too much. I'll be back later." With that she left.

After she left, Sam looked up at the ceiling and blinked a couple times. He was so tired, but he wanted to stay awake so he could talk with his brother. As he stared at the ceiling, he tried to remember what had happened to him. He knew they had come here for a hunt several days ago, but then…something had happened. Then it all started to come back to him.

The visions of his brother and those other people, the wounds he had gotten, being captured…tortured, of what the demon had showed him, and almost dying because of it.

It slammed into him like a ton of bricks and it was too much. He started to panic and his heart rate and breathing increased. A wave of pain ripped through his side and he clamped his eyes shut against it. He wanted to call out for Dean, but couldn't get the words out. _'Dean! Help!'_ He screamed in his head trying to get his brother's attention but knew that it wouldn't work.

Thankfully, Dean must have sensed his fear because he finally woke up.

Dean heard an incessant beeping and couldn't figure out what it was. Was it the alarm? He didn't remember setting the alarm. He groaned inwardly at the constant beeping and finally began to wake. He lifted his head slightly and winced as he neck muscles gave a sharp twinge. So he didn't fall asleep in a bed. He finally managed to crack his eyes open and looked around blearily trying to figure out what the noise was when he realize where he was and what happening.

Sam was awake and he was freaking out.

Dean was beside him in a second trying to calm him down. "Sam? It's okay. You're gonna be okay." Dean hit the call button repeatedly while he tried to remain calm. "We need some help in here!" Dean looked at his brother's panic stricken face and tried to calm him. "Sam, it's okay. I'm here okay? Nothing's going to happen to you little brother. Okay? It'll be okay."

Sam continued to panic. His breaths coming in shallow gasps as his eyes roamed the room not really seeing anything.

The nurse came to the door and saw what was happening. She called down the hall for something and then came to help.

"Sam? Sam you need to calm down. Can you hear me?" She tried to keep her voice calm trying to make him feel safe. "Calm down. You're okay. You're safe."

It wasn't working. Sam was getting more agitated by the second and was trying to get out of bed.

"Sam. Sam, you need to calm down." She and Dean tried to hold him down but this only increased his panic. The alarm on his monitor started screeching as his heart raced and his oxygen dropped. She swore softly and raised worried eyes to look at Dean and saw her own worry reflected in his eyes as well.

Another nurse came in with a syringe and quickly put it in Sam's I.V. bag then rushed to help them hold him down.

Sam continued to struggle against their hands, but soon the drugs started to work and he began to calm down. His breathing and heart rate slowed to a steady pace and Sam's eyelids began to droop and then finally he was asleep again.

The nurses monitored him for a few more minutes checking his vitals and getting him settled before giving the all clear.

Dean just stood there looking at his brother not sure what to think. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and tried to calm his racing heart. He watched as the second nurse finally left and then grabbed the first nurse by the arm.

"What happened?" he said sharply.

The nurse looked at him surprised by his abruptness. "I-I don't know. He must have woken up and then panicked. He seemed fine a few minutes ago."

Dean let her arm go as if her words had hit him like a slap to the face. "He woke up?" He asked in a disbelieving whisper.

The nurse nodded hesitantly. "I came to check on him a few minutes ago and he was awake. I gave him some water and said I'd be back later. I assumed he was going to talk to you then. He didn't wake you?" She searched Dean's face and could see the play of emotions rush across his face.

Dean shook his head hesitantly as he looked at his brother. "No…I woke up and he was freaking out." A pained look crossed Dean's face as he studied his sleeping brother. He'd been awake and I hadn't gotten a chance to talk to him. Why hadn't Sam woken him?

"Sir?"

Dean looked at the nurse realizing that she had been talking to him for a while now.

"I need to check his stitches and make sure he didn't pull anything. Would you mind leaving for a minute? I'll come get you when I'm done," she said a little reluctantly knowing that he really didn't want to leave his brother.

Dean looked back at Sam and then nodded. "Sure." He ran his hand through Sam's hair and Sam tilted his face slightly towards the touch.

The nurse looked away feeling guilty intruding on this private moment between the two brothers.

"Don't worry, Sam. I'll be back soon." He hesitated for a moment and then walked out of the room.

Dean stood outside the door for a moment not sure where to go. He then turned and headed towards the bathroom down the hall.

His jaw clenched as he thrust his hands deep into his pockets trying not to show his anger but the further he got from Sam's room. The angrier he got. "Damn it," he muttered under his breath and he could see one of the nurses in the hallway look up at him questioningly.

_Why wasn't I awake when he woke up? I could've stopped him from freaking out._

He reached the bathroom and pushed the door open roughly letting in bang against the wall and stalked into the room. He went to the sink and splashed some water on his face hoping that the cool water would help him gather his thoughts.

He could hear his dad's voice berating him for falling asleep. _"It's your job to look after, Sam! To keep him safe! And what do you do? You fall asleep!"_ His father's gruff voice boomed inside his head and Dean closed his eyes in hearing his father's disappointment. Even if it _was_ only in his head.

Dean leaned heavily on the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked like shit. He hadn't shaved in days, his face looked ten years older, and he had dark smudges under his eyes from not sleeping well for over a week.

Nothing had gone right since they got to this town. Hell, nothing had been right since long before they had gotten to this town. It seemed like no matter what they did, they could never catch a break. He growled in frustration and pushed away from the sink to pace the bathroom floor.

Why did this always happen to them? Hadn't they suffered enough? First Mom, then Dad, and now Sam was lying in a hospital bed hurt. He'd almost died for Christ's sake. And for what? Because his freaky visions decided to take it up a notch and make it physical? And they still weren't any closer to killing the demon than they were over twenty years ago.

It seemed like every step they took forward. Somebody pushed them back two more. He was sick of it.

His anger boiled over and he punched the wall. He yelped as pain exploded through his hand and he looked at his bruised knuckles in surprise. But then his anger and frustration flared again and he hit the tiled wall even harder.

He continued to hit the wall with his fists over and over again letting a low growl escape as his frustration and anger took over. Soon it started to fade leaving him with only sorrow and despair until he couldn't throw another punch. He backed away from the destroyed wall cradling his broken and bleeding hands against his chest until his back hit the opposite wall. He slid down until he was sitting on the floor not really seeing what was going on around him then he broke down and cried.

He let all of his worry for his brother, the hurt and anguish over everything they had lost, and his failure to protect his family wash over him. Tears streamed down his face until there was nothing left. And then all Dean felt was nothing.

Dr. Gregory Howitz came barging into the bathroom to find it empty. He had heard the commotion out in the hall and wondered what the hell was going on. He noticed the broken tile and blood on the far wall and frowned in confusion.

Suddenly he heard a noise behind him and cautiously turned to see Dean sitting on the floor behind the door. He quickly knelt beside the distraught young man who was cradling his hurt hands to his chest and was rocking back and forth slightly as he stared off into space.

"Mr. Coolidge?" he asked gently. Unsure of what exactly to do he just waited for a response. Dean just continued to stare off into space not even acknowledging the doctor's presence. His eyes were red-rimmed and Greg could tell he had been crying. He put a gentle hand on the man's shoulder trying to get his attention. "Dean?"

The only sign he'd heard him was that he stopped rocking back and forth.

"Why don't we go and get you fixed up?"

Dean sat there for a moment, and Dr. Howitz wondered if he was going to move.

"Can you get up?" he asked gently as he stood and held a hand out to help.

Finally, Dean started to get up and Greg helped pull him to his feet. He swayed slightly before regaining his balance and then let the good doctor lead him out of the bathroom. The two of them walked slowly down the hall with the Greg leading Dean by one arm. Dean seemed to be in a daze and walked along without complaint.

As they passed the nurses' desk, Dr. Howitz asked a petite, blond nurse to call maintenance to get the mess in the bathroom cleaned up and then he guided Dean towards an exam room. As they passed down the hall, people stopped to stare at the broken young man and Greg felt a surge of protectiveness for Dean wash over him.

He led him into an exam room and helped him sit down in a chair before closing the door.

Dean didn't say a word as Dr. Howitz took first one hand and then the other and examined the bleeding and broken knuckles. He seemed lost to the world with his blank eyes staring off into nothing.

He didn't even flinch as the nurse, Penny, cleaned the cuts and removed a few pieces of ceramic tile that had been lodged in his knuckles. They then took a x-ray and found that he had broken his right hand. Thankfully the left was only bruised and bloody.

Greg tried to engage him in conversation as he helped put the cast on his hand, but Dean never even looked at him. It seemed like he just didn't care anymore and this worried the doctor even more.

Greg looked at the young man seated before him and wondered what had set him off. The last he knew his brother, Sam, was doing good. He was healing nicely and they were supposed to take him off the sedative today so he could wake up.

When Dean had found out he had been ecstatic and had thanked him for all he had done for his brother. But now…something had snapped inside of Dean and he had shut down completely.

Dr. Howitz finished putting the cast on Dean's hand, and he just stared at the broken young man before him for a moment as he finished bandaging Dean's left hand. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked tentatively not really expecting an answer. "Dean, can you hear me?" Nothing but a blank stare.

He shined a pen light in Dean's eyes and took his pulse. He then shook him slightly before pinching his arm hoping for some kind of response. "Dean?" Nothing.

_Damn._

He told Dean he'd be right back and went outside to talk to the nurse in private.

"What do you think?" she asked once the door closed behind them.

Greg sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I think he might be in a mild catatonic state. We won't know for sure until later." He looked back at the closed door and then glanced at the nurse. "I just wish I knew what set this off. Penny, did anything happen with his brother today?"

Penny bit her lip slightly and glanced at the closed door before looking back at the doctor. "His brother woke up about a half hour ago and then had a panic attack of some kind. We had to sedate him. Mr. Coolidge was pretty upset. Evidently he'd been sleeping when his brother woke up and then found him in the midst of the attack. We assured him everything was okay and he seemed to be okay with it."

Dr. Howitz sighed knowingly and nodded. This explained a lot. From what he could tell, Dean was very protective of his little brother and beat himself up over every little mistake that he made and what he thought was his failure at protecting Sam. After everything that had happened over the previous week or so, he could see how this might happen.

"What do you want to do?" asked Penny.

"Well, we can't release him like this. We'll admit him at least for the night and give him a sedative to make him sleep. _Hopefully_ in the morning he'll be better."

Penny nodded in agreement. "Do you want to put him in the same room as Sam?"

Greg shook his head. "No, let's put him in a separate room. We don't want Sam to have another panic attack because he wakes up to find his brother in the next bed. Besides, Dean needs to sleep more than anything right now."

Penny nodded and went to set up a room for Dean.

Dr. Howitz sighed again and then went back in to check on his patient.

Dean still sat in the same place where he had left him. Nothing had changed.

"Dean, can you hear me? We're going to keep you over night. Okay?" Dr. Howitz sighed in frustration and put a comforting hand on Dean's shoulder. He didn't know why but he felt a connection with this man. He knew very little about him, but what he did made him respect him.

Penny returned with a wheelchair and they helped Dean into it. Once he was settled in bed they gave him something to sleep and he drifted off. His breathing deepened with sleep and his face looked peaceful. Greg watched Dean for a while as he finished writing in his chart and then shook his head sadly.

One brother was broken and bruised on the outside while the other on the inside. He felt sorry for the two brothers. From what he could tell it was just the two of them anymore and he understood why they clung so desperately to each other. He just hoped that this too would pass and that they would bounce back from it. He finished writing in Dean's chart and then left the room.

_A/N: Okay, here's a new chapter. Wasn't too sure about the ending of this one. Felt a little shaky to me. Let me know what you think by sending me a review. I'd like to know what you think._


	6. Chapter 6

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 6

Summary: The brothers deal with the aftermath of Sam's visions manifesting physically and also try to figure out what plans the yellow-eyed demon has in store for them both.

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one. If you want to read it go to my favorite stories and click on the link.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry. Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give and I'll try to respond more in the future.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

Sam woke the next morning to bright light streaming in through the window and winced when he opened his eyes. Everything seemed to hurt, from the top of his head to the tip of his big toe. What had happened?

He looked around a bit and then remembered. _Oh, yeah. Hospital._ Everything started to come back to him then. He remembered the visions, and the wounds he received from them. He remembered…Dean had gone out to hunt that ghost even though he knew what would happen. And then after another vision of Jane killing a police officer, he had gone to see if she was possessed. But then…He tried to piece it together, but it was still hazy.

"Good morning," Sam turned towards the door slowly to see a young nurse smiling at him.

"Morning." Sam tried to smile back but only managed a slight grimace as his face hurt too much.

"How are you feeling today?" she asked as she started taking his vitals.

"Sore…and thirsty," Sam rasped out through parched lips.

The nurse quickly filled a glass with some water. "Here." She helped him take a couple sips keeping her hand on the glass to help keep it steady. "I'll see if I can get your pain meds increased. That should help."

Once he was done, he fell back onto his pillow feeling drained and nodded absently. He just felt so tired. Like he could sleep for a week and still not have slept enough. He closed his eyes for a moment to recover and then turned towards the window to see that his brother was no longer sitting there. Where was Dean? "Have you seen my brother?" he asked in confusion as he turned back to the nurse.

The nurse looked at him for a second as if deciding something. "Not recently. I think that maybe he stepped out to get some fresh air. Do you need anything else?"

Sam studied the nurse as she continued to check his vitals and stitches and wondered if something was wrong. It almost seemed like she was avoiding something but he couldn't place it. "No, I'm fine. Is everything okay?" he asked with a touch of worry in his voice.

She nodded as she checked the I.V. fluids and then turned back to him with a small smile. "Yeah, everything is fine. It's still early. Why don't you go back to sleep? The doctor will be by later to see you." With that she left.

Sam just stared at the doorway for a moment before turning to look back at the ceiling again. Worry for his brother started to niggle at him and he wondered if something had happened.

He knew he'd been here yesterday when he'd woken up. He could still remember the worry in his brother's voice as he had tried to calm Sam down; and, if he knew Dean, he wouldn't have left after that unless it was something really important.

Dean had always looked out for him. He was his big brother. And it worried Sam that he wasn't here now.

The nurse came back in and gave him a shot in his I.V. before patting him on the shoulder. "There that should help." She then left again.

As she left, Sam's thoughts turned back to his brother and he just had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. His thoughts started to become fuzzy and he felt like he was beginning to float. _Oh, yeah. The drugs are definitely kicking in._ He could start to feel himself fade and he struggled against the pull towards sleep. Soon, Sam's eyelids began to droop and then he was fast asleep again.

Later that morning.

Dr. Howitz walked down the hall past the nurses' station and smiled at one of the nurses sitting there. As he came to one of the doors near the station he stopped and sighed. As he picked up the chart and studied it a frown made its way across his face. _Damn, not what I was hoping for._ He then stepped into the room.

There was no sound except for the soft beep of the heart monitor and soft breathing. He'd had them set it up just for precaution.

He shut the door and stepped over to the bed to look down at the young man. "Morning, Dean. And how are you doing this morning?"

No response.

He hadn't expected any, but he had to try.

The young man was dead still just starring up at the ceiling unblinking.

"Dean, I'm gonna take a look at you, okay?" He began examining the older brother. He shown a light in his eyes, listened to his breathing, poked him with a pin, and shook him slightly.

Nothing. Not even a blink.

He then took Dean's arm and raised it two feet in the air before letting go. His arm hovered in mid-air staying exactly like he had left it.

_Damn_.

He laid Dean's arm back down and then sighed. "Okay, Dean, I'm gonna go now. I hear Sam's awake. He's been asking for you."

Still nothing. He'd hoped that would get some kind of reaction, but no.

He patted Dean's hand and then walked to the nurses' station.

Becky, a pretty little nurse, looked up and smiled. "Good morning Dr. Howitz."

"Morning, Becky. How are you this morning?" asked Dr. Howitz.

"I'm fine." Her smile faltered slightly and her eyes drifted towards Dean's door. "How's he doing?"

Dr. Howitz looked back at the door and then sighed. "Not as good as I was hoping. I want you to give him 2 mg. Lorazepam, and do a full chem profile. Monitor him for the next half-hour to see if there is any change. Hopefully, that'll tell us something."

Becky nodded and then went to take care of it. He then went to room 213 where Sam Coolidge laid recovering.

Sam was propped up in bed trying to eat some very wiggly Jell-O when he walked in and Dr. Howitz couldn't help but smile. At least something was going right. "Good morning, Mr. Coolidge." Sam looked up and the wobbly Jell-O fell back into the bowl. "My name's, Dr. Howitz. Do you remember who I am?" Sam nodded and he continued. "So, how are you feeling today?"

Sam looked up at the doctor with a look of curiosity and answered. "Better, considering I guess."

Dr. Howitz nodded. "Pretty sore I bet. You had us pretty worried there for a while, but it looks like you're recovering nicely." He motioned to the plate and then moved the tray away from Sam so he could get a better look at him.

As the doctor began examining him, Sam began to tense a little. "How long have I been here?" asked Sam hesitantly.

Dr. Howitz looked at Sam and stopped when he saw those big eyes looking back at him. He finally gathered his thoughts again and continued what he had started. "Well, uh, let's see. You were admitted Friday night, so that makes it four days?"

Sam raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Four days? What happened?" Sam was kind of shocked that it had been that long. But he had only woken up yesterday.

The doctor stopped for a second and looked at him. "What do you remember?" he asked cautiously. He really didn't want a repeat of what had happened last night.

Sam glanced down trying to gather his thoughts. He remembered some of it, but he wasn't sure what Dean had told them so he decided to play dumb. "Not much. Just bits and pieces. Nothing makes any sense though."

Dr. Howitz nodded knowingly. "Well, not much of it does make sense. It looks like you might have been the victim of a crime. When you were brought in you were pretty beat up and had a pretty bad stab wound." He studied Sam's face closely. Hopefully he hadn't said too much to cause him to freak out again. But all he saw was recognition in his eyes. "Do you remember what happened?"

Sam nodded slowly. "Yeah, some of it. I remember…being tied up, and them…beating me."

Dr. Howitz nodded gravely. "Yes, as much as we can gather you must have witnessed a crime and then got caught by the criminals and held captive. After that…we're not too sure, but just be lucky that your brother found you in time."

Sam nodded as bits and pieces of what had happened came back to him. Sam shivered slightly and then swallowed hard. "So I almost died?"

Dr. Howitz nodded slowly. "If your brother and your friend hadn't found you in time, you probably would have."

Sam blanched at this. He knew he had come close, but to hear it out loud seemed to make it all that more terrifying.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but I wanted to talk to you about something else." Dr. Howitz pulled up a chair and sat down. "It's about your brother."

Sam looked at him funny. "My brother, why?" Concern crept into him and grabbed at his insides. "Is he okay?"

Dr. Howitz pursed his lips and then said, "Not exactly. First, I just have a few questions. Is he pretty hard on himself?"

Sam blinked a few times. "Yeah. He can be."

"Has there been any major events in his life in the past year? Death of someone close to him?"

Sam swallowed hard and looked down at his hands the loss of their father still fresh in his mind. "Our Dad died earlier this year."

"How did your brother take his death?"

Sam sadly laughed. "Not good. He kinda…blamed himself for it I guess."

"Was it his fault?" asked the doctor knowing that he was treading on shaky ground.

Sam looked up sharply with anger and hurt in his eyes. "No. It wasn't," Sam said stiffly. "Our dad died of a heart attack. Dean just wished that he could've done something. You know? Save him?" Sam's voice cracked slightly at the end and he had to fight back the emotions that were threatening to over power him.

Dr. Howitz knew that he had stepped over the line, but he had had to ask. "What about your, Mother?"

Sam kept his eyes glued on the sheets around his waist. "She died when I was a baby. House fire." Sam picked at a loose thread not willing to meet the doctor's eyes.

"So it's just the two of you?" asked Dr. Howitz with genuine concern in his voice.

Sam nodded sadly. "Yup. Just us." Sam finally looked up and gave a sad smile. He then pushed those thoughts away to focus on what was important. "Doc, what's going on? Why are you asking all these questions? Is my brother okay?"

Dr. Howitz sighed sadly and sat back in the chair. "Actually, no he's not. What do you remember about when you woke up yesterday?"

Sam searched his memory. "Not much. I remember Dean trying to get me to open my eyes and the nurse…and then you came in. Other than that…" Sam shook his head in confusion.

"So you don't remember waking up later on?" Sam shook his head in confusion. "Well, apparently you woke up later while your brother was sleeping and had a panic attack. I don't know if your memories came back or what, but we ended up having to sedate you so you wouldn't hurt yourself. Apparently, Dean woke up and found you in the middle of the attack. One of the nurses said that he seemed pretty upset that you had woken up when he was asleep." Dr. Howitz hesitated when he saw Sam smile slightly. "Is something funny?"

Sam looked at the doctor in surprise. "Oh, no. It's just…that's just like, Dean. He's always been very protective of me. I'm not surprised he was upset about not being awake." His smile then faltered as he saw the look on the doctor's face. "What? What happened?"

"Well, like I said…Dean was upset. Later on I found him in the bathroom. He had bashed the wall in with his fists and ended up breaking one of his hands."

Sam's eyes went wide with shock. "He hit the wall?"

Dr. Howitz nodded and Sam just shook his head and looked away for a moment trying to imagine Dean beating the tar out of some wall. "I can't believe he did that. Actually, not really."

Dr. Howitz looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Sam looked at him. "Oh, it's just that…Dean doesn't usually show his emotions? No chick flick moments, you know? He'll just bottle everything up until finally…Boom. Usually he'll just yell, but sometimes he'll let it show physically." Sam's eyes darkened slightly remembering a few of those melt downs that Dean had never known he witnessed.

Sam shook the memories off. "Doc, what's going on? Where's my brother? I know that _just_ a broken hand wouldn't keep him away. What's going on?" Sam searched the doctor's face for some kind of answer almost hoping that it was just a broken hand.

Dr. Howitz just sighed and ran his hand across his face. "I guess there's no easy way to say this. After his fight with the wall. Dean just…shut down. It's like he decided that things were too hard and he didn't want to deal anymore. I'm sorry, but it appears like your brother has slipped into a catatonic state and-"

"Wait. What does that mean?" Sam asked as he tried wrapping his mind around the idea.

"It means that…the lights are on but nobody's home. He doesn't respond to outside stimuli. He doesn't speak. He won't make eye contact. He just…shut down."

Sam was shocked. "But he's going to be okay, right? I mean, he'll snap out of it?"

"With time hopefully? I had hoped that with a good night's sleep he would've been fine this morning, but it didn't work. We've been running some tests to make sure there isn't anything we've missed, but I don't think there is. We're giving him some medicine that hopefully will help, but frankly…there's no known cause for it."

Sam was speechless. Dean, his big brother, which was always so strong and always had a wisecrack for every situation…was unresponsive to anything. "Can I see him?" he asked turning pleading puppy-dog eyes towards the doctor.

The doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry. Not right now."

"Why not?" Sam started to rise up off the bed in agitation but quickly lay back as pain shot through his body. He hissed involuntarily and Dr. Howitz laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"For one, you're still too weak to get out of bed, and right now Dean's in no shape to come see you. And two, I'm not sure what his response would be to seeing you right now. I think that with everything that has happened: you getting hurt, your dad's recent death, him not being able to show his emotions. I think his sense of guilt and failure has caused him to shut down. Just, give us a couple days. Hopefully…by that time the drugs will have taken effect and he'll come out of it. And by that time you should be well enough to go and see him. Okay?"

Sam just nodded reluctantly. He hated that he might be part of the reason this had happened to Dean. If his brother wasn't so pig-headed…

Dr. Howitz then gave a nod. "Okay. Now try and get some rest. The more you rest, the sooner you'll get better." He then turned to leave.

"Dr. Howitz?" He stopped and turned back to Sam. "Could you make a phone call for me?"

"Sure. To whom?"

"Our friend, Bobby. I think he's the one that helped Dean find me. Just, tell him what's happened with Dean. He's practically family, and I think he'd want to know." Sam gave him the phone number and he left to make the call. Sam just sat there hoping his big brother would be okay. _If you aren't, I'm kicking you ass._

Bobby's phone rang and he looked at the number. It wasn't one he recognized so he let it go to voice mail.

He wondered how Dean and Sam were doing at the hospital. He hadn't heard anything from Dean since the day before, but he wasn't surprised. If he knew Dean, he was probably perched besides Sam's bed wanting to be there when the kid woke up.

Bobby hadn't gone to the hospital yet to check up on them figuring that everything was okay, and besides he had needed to do some research. It still bothered him that the ghost that he had toasted to save Dean had been a job he had finished all those years ago. The fact that the yellow-eyed demon was involved made it even more maddening. Leave it up to a demon to go and mess everything all up. He just hoped that once Dean knew Sam was going to be okay that Dean would try and get back to business.

He had been worried about both Winchester boys, but lately he had been worried even more about Dean. That boy could be so hard on himself. And even after Bobby had told Dean that there was nothing more he could have done until he was blue in the face, Bobby could still see the guilt that Dean felt.

His phone beeped pulling him out of his thoughts and he pressed the buttons to get the new voice mail.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Howitz. I think we met the other day. I work at Salem General Hospital. I need to talk to you about, Dean Coolidge. Please call me at-"

Bobby's mind reeled with questions. Why was he calling about Dean? Did something happen? Was he hurt? Did something happen to Sam and Dean couldn't call himself?

He quickly called the number back and asked for the doctor. When he came on the phone he told him who he was.

"Oh, yes. Uh…something happened to Dean and he's been put in the hospital," said Dr. Howitz matter of factly.

"What happened?" asked Bobby.

"Well, we're not real sure, but it seems like he's slipped into a catatonic state and is not responding to anything."

"What about, Sam?"

"He's doing better. He's awake. In fact, he's the one that wanted me to call."

"Okay, thank you. I'll be there shortly." Bobby hung up the phone and sighed. "Damn it, Dean. Now what did you do?" He growled as he picked up his coat and hat and headed for the hospital.

A/N: A little bit longer chapter. Hope you liked it. Now…if you could please review. I love to hear what you think and any suggestions are welcome.


	7. Chapter 7

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 7

Summary: Sam's visions have been manifesting physically and thanks to the Demon he is definitely in worse shape. With Bobby's help, Dean gets Sam to a hospital in time but after a slow recovery Sam takes a turn for the worse and Dean doesn't handle it well. Now, Dean's in a catatonic state and Sam and Bobby aren't sure what to do.

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by iS2 (dot) coheed (dot) and (dot) cambria

It's not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one. If you want to read it go to my favorite stories and click on the link.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry. I'm going to try and be better about that this year. Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give and love to hear what you think about the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

Five days later

Sam had made great improvements. His wounds were healing nicely. The bruises on his body were now only a muted yellowish color, and they had him walking around the hallways to build up his strength. Bobby marveled at how quickly the young Winchester was healing and Sam had even begun talking about checking himself out.

Like any good hunter, he and his brother had spent way too much time in a hospital and hated being there. Plus, every day they were in one brought them that much closer to possibly being caught or at least recognized. After all, both Winchesters were wanted by the law. Especially, Dean.

However, Dean was not doing well. It had been three days since he had shut down and he was still not responding. They had run tests to see if anything was physically wrong but had found nothing. They had even increased his meds hoping to snap him out of the catatonic state, but nothing seemed to work. Sam and Bobby visited with him every day hoping that hearing their voice would help bring him back but there was nothing.

For all intents and purposes, he was dead to the world. After the second day, they'd hooked him up to an I.V. because he wouldn't eat, and a heart monitor was also present just in case. Every day that Sam went to see him it seemed that there was some new monitor or tube that hadn't been there before. Sam would sit beside Dean's bed just talking about everything and anything hoping for some kind of response, but Dean just stared at the ceiling unresponsive.

Yesterday, Dr. Howitz had alluded to the idea that they might have to start thinking about making 'other' arrangements for Dean. They had tried everything that they knew and were slowly starting to give up hope.

But not Sam.

This was his brother. The only family he had left. He would _not_ give up on him. He would do whatever it took to bring him back. He knew that the doctors thought it hopeless, but they had not seen or done half the things he dealt with on a daily basis. He would find a way to bring Dean back. It was his responsibility.

When they weren't with Dean, he and Bobby talked about ideas of what to do and they both settled on one. They would call Missouri.

She made no guarantees that it would work, but she agreed to come and try.

The next day, Sam sat in his bed eating his lunch and was discussing things with Bobby. "Any ideas on why that house where you found Dean is haunted again?" asked Sam.

Bobby shook his head. "I've went over that place from top to bottom. There's no resurrection spells, binding spells, nothing. I can't find any reason why that spirit was brought back. The only thing I can imagine is that the Demon himself must've brought it back for a special purpose."

Sam stopped eating for a second. "A purpose? Like what?"

Bobby shrugged. He had an idea but he didn't want to worry Sam about it.

"Do you think it was to get us here?" asked Sam.

Bobby shrugged again. "I don't know. Maybe? If so, I-"

"Why lordy sake, child. If I didn't know better, I'd say you'd went ten rounds in the ring and lost."

Both hunters turned towards the door, and Sam smiled. "Missouri."

In the door stood the proud woman who had helped their dad discover that demons were real, and then helped him and Dean take down a nasty spirit back in their hometown. She was a psychic. The real thing. And she always seemed to be able to set Dean on the right path whether he liked it or not. Hopefully this time she'd do the same.

"Now, Sam. You know as well as I do how stubborn that brother of yours can be. So I won't make any promises." She smiled slightly as she came towards his bed and then took his hand and studied his face. "Oh, Sam. Don't think that way. You boys have had it rough this past year. By the way, I'm sorry about your Daddy." The sadness was evident in her voice and Sam nodded not trusting himself to speak for the moment.

Missouri gave his hand another slight squeeze and then let it go. "Now, where's your brother?" Missouri asked and looked at Sam. She stepped back from Sam all business and picked up the bag she had brought with her.

Bobby had stood up as soon as Missouri had entered the room. He stood there slightly dumbfounded at how she seemed to read Sam's thoughts so well. He knew she was psychic but still he kind of threw him for a loop. Missouri looked at him and he finally jolted out of his thoughts. "Uh, he's two doors down in room-"

"209?" she said with a little surprise.

Sam and Bobby nodded that she was correct.

Missouri looked towards Dean's room like she could see him through the walls. "Oh, lordy. I walked past that door and thought I'd pass out." She put a hand to her chest as if trying to steady herself at the thought.

"What happened?" asked Sam with some concern.

Missouri didn't look at him but frowned slightly. "A wave of pain and guilt. Like a force just bursting to get free. The door was closed so I couldn't see who it was, but…I should've guessed." She said the last quietly as she continued to stare at the wall for a moment longer.

Sam swallowed hard at hearing what his brother felt. He always knew that Dean carried a lot of guilt and pent up emotions inside, but to see the effect it had on Missouri made it even more apparent how much his brother was hurting. "Can you help him?" he asked quietly hoping for the impossible.

Missouri finally turned back to him with sad eyes. "I'll try. But sometimes, some things are just too broken." With that she walked down the hall leaving the two hunters alone in the room.

As she walked to the door of Dean's room, she tried to prepare herself for what she might find. She knew that in a catatonic state that the body just kind of shuts down, but the mind is still open. And it was shouting from here.

_It's my fault. My fault! I let them down. It was my job and I failed._

She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. Staggering slightly as the wave of emotions intensified in resounding waves, she pushed on taking first one step and then another into the room.

She gazed sadly at the young man that was laid out in the bed not quite sure what to make of him. A mere shadow of the cock-sure young man she had seen almost a year ago back in Lawrence. He was pale, his skin almost translucent, and the dark circles under his usually dancing eyes stood out drastically against the white skin. But that wasn't the worst. The worst was that there was no spark behind those green eyes. They were hollow and haunted as they just stared at nothing. Not seeing and uncaring to what was going on in the world around them.

She set her bag down on the edge of the bed and then put her hand on his. She flinched as a dark energy surged through her almost burning in its intensity. A wave of grief, hatred, despair, and guilt shot through her and she had to quickly sit down as she felt the deep sadness roll through her body. She let go of his hand and gasped slightly in shock.

"Oh, my sweet child. What have you done to yourself?" she said softly as she stared fondly at Dean.

No wonder this boy was not responding to anything. He had shut himself inside his own feelings trying not to let them boil over, but had gotten trapped and now couldn't find his way out. His emotions and thoughts were so loud that he couldn't hear anything else. She had to stop it before everything was lost.

She quickly pulled herself together and then set to work. She took some healing crystals from her bag and placed one in each of his hands and then one on his chest above his heart. Next, she lit a sage stick and went to the window to open it. Hopefully opening the window would let out some of the pent up emotions in the room.

The cool wind blew across her face as the smell of the sage wafted through the room filling it with the heady smell of the herb. The healing crystals were to help draw the negative energy out of Dean, and hopefully the sage would help to cleanse the bad vibes that surrounded the young man. She quickly murmured a small prayer to help with the cleansing and then walked back towards Dean's bed.

Missouri tried to concentrate on what needed to be done but it was difficult with all of the raw emotions that practically filled the room with their shouts from Dean.

_It's my fault he got hurt. I shouldn't have left him. I have to protect him. It's my job to protect Sammy. Dad told me: take care of Sammy, protect Sammy, save Sammy. I've failed him. I failed! It should've been me that died not him._

Missouri fixed Dean with a hard look when that comment came to mind. "Now, boy, you know better than to blame yourself for your Daddy's death. It wasn't your fault."

_Yes, it was. He died to save me. My Dad's in Hell and I'm still here. What's dead should stay dead._

Missouri wept bitter tears for Dean as his grief and anger swept through the room. She couldn't believe what she heard. She knew John would never do that to his son. He couldn't have.

Slowly the healing crystals turned black as some of the negative energy was drawn out and Missouri placed new ones in his hands. She continued like this for at least thirty minutes before Dean's emotions started to calm to a dull roar and Missouri could finally hear her own thoughts again. She had just put out the burning sage when a nurse walked into the room.

"Oh, I didn't realize anyone was in here," she said a little startled.

Missouri just smiled. "That's okay. I'm just a family friend. I came to see how the boys were doing."

"Oh, well, I need to check his vitals so if you could-"

"Could you give me just a couple more minutes alone with him? I know it sounds funny, but I've got something I want to tell him before I go." Missouri gave her a warm smile and the nurse hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

"Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Thank you."

The nurse left and Missouri worked quickly taking the crystals from Dean and then placing her hand on his forehead. "Okay, son. Now you get some sleep. And don't be so hard on yourself." She walked over to her bag and pulled out a small dream catcher and a smooth black stone. Hanging the dream catcher above the bed, she then laid the stone under his pillow. "Sweet dreams, child."

Dean blinked slowly but otherwise there was no response.

She took one more look at the young man and then walked out of the room.

Missouri smiled as she passed the nurse in the hall and walked to Sam's doorway. The younger Winchester was asleep, and she didn't want to disturb him so she just stood at the doorway.

Bobby looked up and noticed her so he quietly got up and came to the door. "How's Dean?" he asked softly not wanting to wake Sam.

Missouri gave a sad smile. "He's better. He's still not out of the woods, but I think it's possible if he doesn't fight me on this. Of course we both know how stubborn that boy can be." Missouri shook her head slightly at the thought.

Bobby snorted in agreement. "Yeah, you don't have to tell me that. I think when the word stubborn was invented they had the Winchesters in mind." He smiled slightly and then looked back at Sam. "Do you want to talk to him?"

Missouri shook her head. "No, let him sleep. He may say he's all better, but he's still got a long way to go just like his brother. Why don't we go get something to eat and then go to the motel? We can discuss what exactly has happened so far, and maybe we can figure out how to fix it."

Bobby nodded. "Okay."

They quickly left the room, and soon Sam was dreaming a slight smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

The next morning Sam awoke to find Missouri sitting in the chair next to him smiling slightly. "What?" he asked sleepily.

"You were dreaming," she replied.

Sam looked away for a second as if trying to collect his thoughts. "Yeah, I guess I was. I don't think I've done that since I've been here." _At least not good dreams._

"What were they about?" asked Missouri genuinely curious.

Sam blinked a couple times as he tried to get his fuzzy mind to think. "Uh…I'm not sure. Good dreams, though. About when Dean and I were kids I think? Just…random things. Things that we used to do together for fun. Why?"

Missouri just shrugged. "Nothing. It's just that it seems like he's finally trying to connect again."

Sam was puzzled. "Connect? Who?"

"Your brother. You see…he's trying to connect with you through your dreams. To find…some glimmer of a happy period in his life."

Sam sat up slightly. "So…these were my brother's dreams?"

Missouri frowned slightly. "Sort of. You see…you may not realize it, but you two are connected in so many ways. More than you can imagine, and right now he's trying to remember how to do that. For now it's through dreams."

Sam was confused. "I don't understand? Is he awake?"

Missouri shook her head. "No, he's still the same as before. You see…your brother tries to be so strong for everyone, to be the protector. So much so that he's forgotten how to let his true emotions show. He's been hurt so many times that he buries them deep down instead of risking letting them out. But then after everything that has happened recently? Your dad dying? You, getting hurt? It was too much and his emotions finally exploded taking over, but afterwards when he tried to pull it all back in…he got trapped. And now…he can't hear anything except what his grief and anger and despair are telling him. His thoughts are so deafening…"

She put her hands to her ears still remembering Dean's raw emotions. She finally shook herself and looked at Sam. "It will take a while, but I'm pretty sure that I can help bring him back to us."

Sam just nodded not sure that he could trust himself to say anything without breaking right now. He struggled to comprehend what she was telling him. His brother, the one person he thought was invincible, who was always there to protect him…was lost inside himself thinking that he failed his family. Sam's heart broke for his brother and the fact that he was part of the reason that Dean was in the state that he was. He wished that it wasn't so hard. They had been through so much. When was it time to say enough? No more.

Missouri smiled sadly and reached out to take Sam's hand. "Now, Sam, don't you start thinking that way. Your brother loves you. That's why he wants to protect you. And don't worry so much. You can't know what the future will bring, but you need to trust in your brother. He's strong. He'll make it through this."

Sam gave her a watery smile and then took a reassuring breath as he nodded his agreement.

Missouri gave his hand a squeeze and then let go so she could stand. "Now. I'm going to go see, Dean. You rest. I'll be back soon."

She left the room and walked towards Dean's room. His emotions weren't quite as overwhelming as they were yesterday, but they still gave her a headache as she walked up to his room and she rubbed her temple slightly as she paused in front of his door.

But then something changed. Something _felt_ wrong.

She opened the door and there stood the nurse from yesterday. She had just finished giving Dean some kind of shot and nothing seem out of the ordinary, but still… "What did you give him?" Missouri asked worriedly.

The nurse looked at her with surprise. "What?"

Missouri walked over to her. "You heard me. What did you give him?"

Missouri quickly scanned Dean for any kind of distress but couldn't find any physical signs. Dean's mind though seemed to scream with pain. _Help me!_

"It's something to help him feel better."

Missouri looked at the nurse closely. "No, it's not. Something is wrong."

The nurse looked lost. "I don't know what you're talking about. He's fine. Excuse me."

She started to walk away and Missouri grabbed her arm to stop her, but just as quickly let go as if she had been burned. She looked at the nurse in fright as she backed away a step. "It's you," she said shakily.

Quicker than Missouri could blink the nurse's hand was around her neck and Missouri was lifted off of her feet as she gasped for air.

The nurse's eyes turned yellow revealing the demon that possessed her and she smirked in amusement. "Well, well, well…Missouri Mosely. I must admit, I thought I was going to get away with this one."

The Demon's smile only increased as Missouri tried to pull the girl's hand away. "It's funny that someone as _strong_ as you could not sense me even though I was less than a foot away. You know…I should kill you for what you've done. If it hadn't been for you, John would've never known exactly what happened to his wife. But thanks to you, he and his sons have been nothing but a pain in my side."

The Demon tightened its grip on Missouri's throat slightly and she winced slightly in pain as her free hand scrabbled for some kind of weapon.

"But…I think I'll let you watch as I take out the last of the Winchester defense team and then…I'll let Sammy boy kill you when I take him for my own."

The Demon reached to touch Missouri's face and she threw Holy water in its face. It fell back screaming as the water burned its skin and Missouri stumbled slightly as her feet finally touched the ground.

Missouri threw more water on it as she gasped for air, and then suddenly Bobby was there with the Demon in a headlock. It tried to break free but couldn't and soon the body it inhabited started to lose consciousness. Before the girl passed out the Demon escaped in a cloud of black smoke, which rippled out of the nurse's throat, and she suddenly became limp in Bobby's arms.

Missouri gasped for air as she saw the Demon disappear through the heating vent. She then turned to Bobby who was panting also as he gently laid the nurse down on the floor. "How did you know?" Missouri asked a little hoarsely.

Bobby shook his head. "I didn't. Sam did. He said he suddenly had a feeling that I should go check on you and Dean."

Missouri smiled slightly marveling at the connection the two boys had and then frowned. "Dean." She quickly turned to the boy in worry. "The Demon gave him something before I came in. A shot." She studied his still form for any differences.

Nothing was visible, but his mind still screamed in pain. And then she noticed his breathing. It was labored and wheezing like he had to fight for every breath. His body strained with the effort to take in air. "Quick. Go get a nurse," she said to Bobby.

Bobby nodded and left the room. Even as he left, Dean's condition quickly deteriorated. His breathing became even more strained and his heart rate started to soar. The heart monitor started to beep out its warning that something was wrong.

Another nurse came in quickly followed by Bobby. She looked shocked to see the other nurse on the floor. "What happened?"

"Long story. Please, help him. He's in trouble," Missouri urged as Dean struggled to take a breath.

The nurse tore her gaze away from the other nurse and nodded. She went to work. She ran to the hallway. "We need a crash cart in here and some more help!"

Bobby picked up the nurse on the floor and moved her out of the way as more people came into the room.

Missouri stepped out of their way, but she kept her eyes on Dean. His thoughts and pain were fading as his body started to convulse.

"He's seizing."

The doctors tried to restrain him so he wouldn't hurt himself until the tremors quit and his body fell limply to the mattress. Sirens continued to blare as Dean's heart raced trying to keep up with the demands his body was making.

"He's going into arrest." One of the doctors said as people rushed around. Dean then flat lined and they shocked him to get his heart started only to have it stop again. "Damn it! Come on kid, fight!"

Missouri and Bobby were ushered out of the room and told to wait as the doctors continued to try and save Dean's life. They just stood there for a moment unsure of what had just happened.

"What did it do to him?" asked Bobby quietly.

Missouri shook her head slightly. "I don't know. All we can do now is wait."

"Hey." Sam had peeked out of his room to see what was going on and stood there with wide frightened eyes. "What's happening?"

Neither of them knew exactly what to say.

Sam then started towards Dean's room and Bobby tried to hold him back. "Is it my brother?"

Missouri stepped in front of him also and he looked at her with pleading eyes. "It's out of our hands for right now," she said as calmly as she could. "Let's go back to your room. Okay?"

Sam didn't move but just stared as the door that separated him from his brother.

"Sam, please." Her voice was soft and pleading. She knew that he wanted to be with his brother right now, but she didn't think Sam could handle that stress right now.

They guided him back down the hall and forced him to lay back down. "What happened?" he asked the two of them once he was settled. They were both silent for a second and Sam could feel tears start to form in his eyes. "Please, tell me."

Missouri sighed and then spoke. "The yellow eyed demon."

Sam's shock about took out Missouri. "What? How? Why attack Dean?" He could feel tears start to fall down his cheeks. He couldn't lose Dean. Not now, not ever.

Missouri bit her lip in worry. She knew why, but she didn't think that Sam needed to know that it was because the Demon was after him. "I don't know. And don't think like that." Missouri said sternly as she took Sam's hand. "Dean's strong. He won't let the Demon take him this way. He's too stubborn to die."

Sam just nodded as he continued to cry silently. It was just too much to take in. After everything that had happened he couldn't lose Dean. He knew that if the YED was involved then it probably had something to do with him. He couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at the idea that he had gotten his brother hurt again because of his connection to the Demon.

Missouri could feel his dark thoughts but thought that this was not the time to address them. "Okay. Right now, I think the best things we can do is try to make you boys as safe as possible. If your doctor will agree, I think you should check yourself out. It's much easier to protect a motel room against demons than it is to protect a public place like this. Okay?"

Bobby nodded his agreement.

"I want to make sure Dean's okay first," Sam said tightly.

Missouri nodded. "I think we all want that first. Let's just hope that Dean's too stubborn to let that yellow eyed bastard win."

Sam smiled slightly at the thought of Missouri cursing and then nodded. Now all they could do was wait.

A/N: Okay. You know the drill. Press the little button and tell me what you think. If you can think of any way that I could improve the story or my writing please let me know. I really do like to hear people's opinions. Good or bad. So…hope you will review. See you soon.


	8. Chapter 8

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 8

Summary: Sam's visions have been manifesting physically and thanks to the Demon he is definitely in worse shape. With Bobby's help, Dean gets Sam to a hospital in time but after a slow recovery Sam takes a turn for the worse and Dean doesn't handle it well. Now, Dean's in a catatonic state and Sam and Bobby aren't sure what to do.

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by iS2 (dot) coheed (dot) and (dot) cambria

It's not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one. If you want to read it go to my favorite stories and click on the link.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give and love to hear what you think about the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

Sam, Bobby, and Missouri sat in his hospital room trying to wait patiently for news about Dean. So far, it had been at least an hour since the doctors had shooed Bobby and Missouri out of his room and there was still no word. To try and pass the time, they had tried to figure out why the Demon might want Dean.

"What I don't get is why now?" asked Bobby. "Why is the Demon making such an effort to come after you boys now?"

Sam just shrugged. "I don't know. He has said that he has plans for me and the other children like me. Maybe…this is part of his plan."

"Yeah, maybe," said Bobby begrudgingly.

Just then there was a knock on the door, and Dr. Howitz walked into the room. He looked tired and Sam prepared himself for the possibility of bad news.

"How's my brother?" Sam asked apprehensively as both Missouri and Bobby stood to face the doctor waiting to hear how Dean was doing.

Dr. Howitz sighed. "He's stable. We almost lost him a couple times. Apparently, he had an allergic reaction and went into anaphylactic shock. We had to intubate to prevent the swelling from blocking his airway and we gave him a shot of epinephrine to reduce the reaction. Right now he's resting comfortably."

Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief and Missouri muttered a blessing in thanks.

"He had an allergic reaction? To what?" asked Sam.

The doctor shrugged. "We're not sure. You don't know of any known allergies?"

All three of them shook their heads.

"The nurse gave him some kind of shot before he had the reaction," Missouri said. "Could that have been what started it?" Missouri knew that it was, but she had to play dumb so the doctor wouldn't be too suspicious.

Dr. Howitz frowned slightly at this. "Hmm. It might have. The problem is that the nurse who gave the shot was knocked out some how. She doesn't remember a thing. We'll have to run some more tests and see what we can find. By the way, do either of you know what happened to the nurse?"

He looked at them expectantly, but it was Missouri who answered. "No, I found her like that. I came in and saw her and then realized something was wrong with Dean. That's when Bobby came in." She motioned to Bobby. "And then we called for help."

Dr. Howitz just looked at them not sure whether to believe them or not. "Well, according to the nurse, she says the last thing she remembers was walking towards the hospital to start her shift and then…nothing."

Sam and Bobby exchanged a knowing glance, which the doctor didn't catch.

"Anyway, we'll be keeping a close eye on your brother for a while to make sure there's no complications from this. Unfortunately, we won't know for sure if anything's seriously wrong until he wakes up, and even then it might be difficult to tell if he's still catatonic."

Sam nodded slowly as he absorbed this information. In the chaos of everything he had completely forgotten about his brother's previous situation. What if this made things worse? What he never came out of this? Was this what the Demon had wanted? To get Dean out of the way for good? Sam shivered at the idea of it and hoped that it wouldn't be like that.

"Well, I'll leave you guys," Dr. Howitz said and then started to walk away.

"Uh, Dr. Howitz?" Sam asked quickly as he realized the doctor was about to leave.

Dr. Howitz paused and then turned back to Sam.

"I was wondering when I could possibly go home?" Sam asked tentatively.

The doctor looked at him in surprise before regaining his composure. "Well, your wounds seem to be healing nicely and you've been up and walking around on your own. So, I'd say you could probably go home about anytime; but I figured with your brother being in the condition that he is, you'd probably want to stay. Why do you ask?" He fixed Sam with a curious look.

Sam fidgeted under the doctor's scrutiny. "Well, actually…I hate hospitals," he said hesitantly.

Dr. Howitz laughed softly. "Don't worry. If I didn't have to work in one I'd probably avoid them too."

Sam smiled hesitantly at the doc's attempt at a joke.

"I'll see what I can do to get you released. Excuse me." He left the room and the other three turned to look at each other.

"Okay," Bobby started. "Sam, once you're checked out we'll go back to the motel and set up some protections. I think the safer you are from the demons the better and it'll be easier to tell who might be a demon at the motel than here. Besides, if anything happens to you, Dean will have my hide."

"But what about, Dean?" asked Sam.

"Don't you worry, sweetie," Missouri said and laid a gentle hand on Sam's. "I'm gonna stay with him. Besides, I'll know if something's wrong with him before anyone else will." She smiled slightly before getting up to go to Dean's room. "Now, you better get ready. Come and say goodbye before you leave." With that she left the room to let Sam get dressed.

About three hours and a ton of paper work later, Sam and Bobby made it back to the motel, and as soon as they walked in the door Bobby began laying new salt lines along the doorways and windowsills.

Sam shuffled slowly through the door and made his way towards the farthest bed automatically. Dean always took the bed closest to the door and Sam didn't even think about taking the first bed even though Dean wasn't here. He grimaced slightly as he sat down the stitches in his side pulling slightly. He lay down slowly on the bed and closed his eyes sighing in exhaustion.

It had been a long day what with the worry about Dean and then checking out of the hospital it was almost too much. Even though he liked to say he was all right, he knew that he still wasn't up to par.

He felt himself start to drift off to sleep but then his eyes snapped open and he tried to sit back up. He wanted to talk to Bobby about the Demon and what he thought was going on.

He struggled to sit back up in bed, but was having trouble making his limbs behave his commands. Between his exhaustion and his injuries, things just weren't working right.

Bobby saw him struggling to sit up and stopped to look at Sam after finishing the last windowsill. "What are you doing?' he asked as he put down the salt and pulled out a piece of chalk.

"I wanted…to talk about…what was happening. You know, the Demon…and everything." Sam finally got himself into a seated position and leaned back against the headboard with a grimace on his lips. Once there he sat for a moment trying to catch his breath and keep his eyes from sliding shut. Damn, he was tired.

Bobby laughed softly. "You can't even keep your eyes open and you want to talk? Get some sleep, Sam." He turned back to the door. "We can talk later." He started drawing protective symbols along doorframe and tried to ignore Sam's frustrated sigh.

"But-"

"But nothing." Bobby turned back to the young man. "Sleep, Sam. You've had a busy day. Whatever it is can wait. I promise, we'll talk in the morning."

Sam tried to protest a little more and Bobby just gave him his best John Winchester look. Finally, Sam gave up with a little sigh and then struggled to lay back down.

Maybe Bobby was right. His body was definitely telling him he needed to sleep, to heal. Besides, there was nothing he could do right now anyway. Missouri was watching over Dean, and Bobby was here with him. Everything should be taken care of.

He no more put his head on the pillow again and he was asleep. And soon he was dreaming.

Missouri had just finished setting up what protections she could around the hospital room without drawing too much suspicion from the medical staff and then sat down next to Dean.

The ventilator made a soft whooshing noise as it helped Dean breathe. The swelling had started to go down, but they still had the tube in as precaution. The nurse that had come in earlier had said that hopefully by morning they could remove it by morning if the swelling was down enough. The heart monitor beeped slow and steady as the I.V. pumped fluids and drugs into his system.

Missouri took Dean's hand carefully making sure not to bump his I.V. and smiled slightly. Even though he looked all the worse for wear on the outside at least his spirit was still there. It was calmer than before. Fainter, but still audible when she touched his hand. More like a whisper that she almost had to strain to hear, but with each passing minute it seemed to get a little stronger. "You poor child, you've been through so much. But you can't give up. Not now. You still have people here who need you. Sam still needs you." She could feel his spirit rally at the mention of Sam's name and she squeezed his hand gently.

She watched as his eyelids started to flutter slightly and she held her breath wondering if he was going to wake up. But his eyes never opened the eyes just twitching back and forth beneath the lids. He was dreaming. She leaned back in the chair still holding Dean's hand and whispered. "Sweet dreams, child."

Sam woke up with a strangled cry.

His heart was racing and he took heaving breaths not seeming able to pull enough oxygen into his lungs. He looked around the dark room with unfocused eyes trying to place where he was as he tried to calm himself down.

_A motel room? Oh yeah._ Bobby had brought him back here earlier after checking him out of the hospital. Sam took some deep breaths trying to calm himself down, and he ran a hand through his sweat soaked hair. As he sat there amongst the tangled sheets he tried to remember what his dream had been about. Why was he so scared?

"Sam?" The voice was half-asleep but didn't sound like Bobby's. "Sammy?"

The light flipped on and Sam closed his eyes against the bright light. When he opened his eyes he couldn't believe what he saw. It was Dean, but he looked younger. Maybe about eighteen or so? His hair slightly longer than it is now and his shoulders not quite as broad with muscle as they are now…or in the present, future, oh whatever.

"Sam, are you okay? Another nightmare?" Dean just looked at his brother with concern in his eyes and Sam didn't know what to say.

Sam looked around the room trying to figure out where they might be. Was this something from their past? Was he dreaming? His eyes lit on the mirror at the end of the bed and when he saw himself he gave a little gasp. He must've been about fourteen. He had forgotten how gangly looking he was all knees and elbows. It was shortly after he'd had a growth spurt and he was still trying to get used to his new height. "Yeah, I guess," said Sam hesitantly trying to piece together what was going on.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Dean asked as he moved to sit on the edge of Sam's bed looking worried for his little brother.

Sam finally tore his eyes away from the mirror to look at Dean. "Uh, don't remember much. Just…yellow eyes." Sam tried to remember what he had dreamed about or if it was a dream since technically this had to be a dream also.

His head suddenly hurt and he winced in pain and grabbed the bridge of his nose.

"Headache?" Dean asked and Sam nodded leaving his eyes closed against the pain.

Sam felt the bed rise as his brother got up and then he could hear water running in the bathroom. Soon, Dean returned with two Tylenol and a glass of water. Sam accepted them gratefully and took a few swallows of water to wash the pills down.

"So what did the yellow eyes want you to do now?" asked Dean as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Sam almost choked on the sip of water he had taken as he was caught off guard by the question. He coughed harshly and Dean beat on his back.

"Easy there, tiger. I didn't think that water had any bones in it."

Sam took a few deep breaths trying to regain his composure as he processed what Dean had said. _He knew? He knew about the yellow eyes? I don't remember that. _ "Uh, I don't know. I can't remember what they wanted," he finally choked out. "All I know is it wasn't good."

Dean continued to rub Sam's back for a moment longer before letting his hand drop. "Well, Sam, it was just a nightmare. And don't you forget, little brother, I won't let anything happen to you." He looked seriously at Sam and Sam couldn't help but smile at the sincerity of the statement.

"Because you're my big brother, right?"

Dean nodded once. "Damn straight. Now try to go back to sleep." Dean tapped Sam on the knee once before getting up and going back to his bed. He flipped off the light plunging the room back in to darkness.

Sam sat there for a moment longer listening as his brother got settled and pretended to go back to sleep. Sam knew that he would stay awake until he was sure that Sam was asleep before he himself went to sleep.

"Good night, Dean," Sam said as he slipped back under the covers.

"Night, Sammy," came Dean's muffled voice.

Sam just laid there staring into the dark and trying to figure out what was going on. _Why was he dreaming about this? Was this Dean sharing his dreams again?_

Just then his dream changed and Sam looked around in confusion. He was standing in a doorway to a hospital room. The door was open and peered into the room trying to see whose room it was. When he realized where he was he took a step back in surprise. "Dean?" he asked in confusion.

"Hello, Sammy boy."

The cheerful voice came from his left and Sam turned to see who had spoken. When he realized whom it was his eyes grew wide. "You!"

It was the Yellow-Eyed Demon. The Demon just smiled.

"What do you want?" Sam growled softly not wanting to wake Dean as he moved to put himself between the evil man and his brother.

The Demon chuckled slightly at Sam's attempt to protect his brother. "Oh, Sammy, Sammy, Sammy. It's what I've always wanted. For you to do as I say."

Sam shook his head. "No. I'll never do what you say. You can forget it. Just leave us alone."

The Demon just shook his head and smirked. "Sorry. Can't. I've got plans for you. And sooner or later you _will_ do what I say."

Sam shook his head with more force and sneered slightly. "I will _never_ do what you say. You can't make me."

The Demon just smiled. "Are you so sure about that, Sammy-boy?"

Sam felt a presence beside him and he turned to see a woman with black eyes standing next to him. Sam gasped in surprise as she grabbed him. He tried to get away, but she was too strong and he couldn't move. She pulled him close as if to give him a kiss and a black cloud flew from her mouth and started to seep into Sam.

"No!" Sam tried to fight it as the black demon cloud forced its way into his body, but it was too late. The demon possessed him and his eyes snapped closed as he staggered a few steps back. The woman who had been possessed fell in a heap on the floor unconscious at Sam's feet, and Sam just stood there for a moment before his eyes snapped open to reveal pure black.

'Sam' turned to the YED and gave an evil smile. The YED returned the evil grin and nodded towards the bed where Dean lay still asleep.

"_No, get away from him!"_ Sam yelled inside his head helpless to break free from his own body as the demon inside him made him move towards Dean's bed.

Sam watched helplessly as the demon inside of him took hold of Dean's hand and he saw his brother's eyes open slightly and look up at him.

"Sam?" he said sleepily.

"Yeah," 'Sam' said softly. "It's me."

Dean smiled slightly and closed his eyes happy that his brother was there with him.

That's when the demon plunged a knife into Dean's heart.

Sam screamed as he sat bolt upright in bed. He then groaned as pain blossomed in his side from the stab wound and he grabbed his side to try and keep it from hurting so much. His heart was beating out of control and he was covered in sweat his shirt and hair plastered to his body. Sam tried to slow his breathing down as the sense of déjà vu and the memory of what happened in his dream made his fear spike and he started to hyperventilate.

Bobby turned on the light to see Sam sitting on the edge of the bed with his head between his knees gasping for air as he tried to calm himself down. "Sam? Are you okay?" asked Bobby with a little fear in his voice. Sam had nearly scared him to death when he screamed. "Sam?" the boy just sat there trying to get his breathing under control holding his head with one hand while his other was wrapped around his middle.

Finally Sam was able to get his breathing under control and he lifted his head slightly to look at Bobby. "Yeah, Bobby, I'm okay." It came out as barely a whisper and even then Bobby could tell that his voice shook slightly.

"You sure?"

Sam nodded and then looked at Bobby through pain filled eyes. "Yeah. Just a nightmare I guess." He rubbed his temples trying to relieve the throbbing that coursed through his head. He knew it was more than a nightmare but he didn't want to scare Bobby anymore than he already had.

"Was it a nightmare or a vision?" asked Bobby as he went to get Sam some Tylenol and a glass of water.

Sam glanced up as Bobby returned with the pills and water. "I don't know. I _hope_ it wasn't a vision."

Bobby held out the pills and water and Sam took them with a grateful smile. His hand shook slightly as he took the glass and Bobby frowned slightly before taking the glass back.

Bobby sat back down on his bed and studied Sam for a moment. He seemed shaky and pale. His bangs plastered to his sweaty brow and his shirt soaked through with sweat. No doubt because of the dream, but also because he wasn't completely healed yet either. "You wanna talk about it?"

Sam sat shivered slightly at the memory of Dean saying those exact same words in his dream and for a moment he said nothing. "I don't know. It was…weird." Sam paused for a moment and Bobby just sat there trying to encourage him to continue. "First I was dreaming about Dean and I when we were younger. I'd had…a nightmare and he comforted me and told me he would always protect me, and then…It changed." Sam gulped slightly at the memory of what he'd seen. "I was in a different place. A hospital room, and the Demon was there and…he killed Dean." Sam's voice broke slightly on Dean's name and he had to blink hard to keep the stinging tears from showing themselves.

With this last bit of info Sam looked at Bobby and the man could see the pain in the boy's eyes. "_The_ Demon?" asked Bobby. Sam looked away and nodded. "How?"

Sam swallowed hard and looked at his hands. "He stabbed him…in the heart." Tears threatened to fall down Sam's cheeks as he recalled the dream. It felt so real. He could still feel the knife plunge into his brother's chest. How it had seemed to slide in as if like a hot knife through butter. He rubbed his chest slightly at the memory hoping to god that it wouldn't come true.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" asked Bobby suddenly concerned.

Sam looked at him puzzled. "No. Why?"

Bobby relaxed slightly and then looked uncomfortable. "Well…Dean told me that your visions had gotten worse lately. That you had been getting the wounds of the victims you saw, and I just thought…" He motioned to Sam rubbing his chest and then Sam understood.

Sam looked down at his chest in surprise. It hadn't even dawned on him that he had been rubbing his chest where Dean had been stabbed. He pulled back his shirt to look, but there was no wound. He couldn't help the sigh of relief at seeing no mark. He then looked up at Bobby kind of skeptically. "Dean told you that?"

Bobby nodded slightly when he saw there was no wound on Sam's chest. "Yeah, when we found you he thought you'd probably had had another vision since your side was bleeding and after what you said..." Bobby's eyes took on a far away look as he remember how close they had come to losing Sam that night.

Sam touched his side gingerly and hissed slightly at the pain that flared from his touch. "Yeah, he was right. I saw what was going to happen when Dean came in. That's how I knew when he was going to move."

Sam smiled slightly. His vision had almost caused him to die, but it had also saved his life. "Do you know that yellow-eyed bastard was just as surprised as I was when I had that last vision?"

Bobby narrowed his eyes in confusion. "He was? I thought the visions were usually tied to him."

Sam nodded. "They usually are, but this one was evidently not something he had planned."

"So…where did the vision come from?" asked Bobby.

Sam shrugged slightly as he started to feel his body relax and his eyelids start to droop. "I don't know." He then yawned and blinked slowly a couple times. He wanted to talk with Bobby some more about the Demon but he was so tired. "Hey can we talk about this in the morning? I think those pills are starting to kick in." He lay back down and pulled the covers up around his chest.

Bobby nodded and smiled slightly. "Sure. You get some sleep. You look like shit."

Sam smiled slightly. "Thanks. So do you."

Bobby chuckled slightly and then watched as Sam drifted back to sleep. He scrubbed his face with his hand as he contemplated what Sam had told him. He then grabbed his phone and picked up his coat before heading outside. He needed to make a few phone calls. The first, being to the Roadhouse.

The phone rang a few times before it was finally picked up. "This better be good," came a tired female voice from the other end.

Bobby cringed slightly forgetting what time it was.

"Sorry, Ellen. This is Bobby."

"Bobby?" Ellen was trying to put the pieces together as he sleep-fogged brain tried to wake up and then it all clicked. "Oh, hey. Sorry for the gruff hello I just got to sleep about an hour ago."

"I'm sorry, Ellen. I wouldn't have called unless I really needed a favor."

"What's up? Is it serious?"

"Yeah. I guess you'd say that. I'm with the Winchesters. They've got themselves into a pretty good pickle and I'm pretty sure the YED has his fingerprints all over it." Bobby had moved out to sit in his truck not wanting anybody to accidentally overhear him and get the wrong idea.

"Are the boys okay?" Ellen asked with concern in her voice. It hadn't been too long ago that she had met the two young men, but she knew that they were good boys and would never wish them any harm.

"Not really. Sam got pretty hurt and Dean…well let's just say they've seen better times. Look, Ellen, I need Ash to see if he can fire up that machine of his and see if he can find where the YED has been lately. See if he can find him now."

"Okay, I'll see what he can do. Hopefully, he can find something by tomorrow. I guess I mean later today."

Bobby sighed. "Thanks, Ellen."

"No problem, Bobby. And look, if you need anything…you let me know. Those boys may not be my family, but I still care about them."

"Yeah, I know. I'll keep in touch." Bobby then hung up and leaned back in the seat. Now all he could do was wait.

A/N: Okay, new chapter. Yeah! If you like let me know. If you don't still let me know. I always like to hear what my readers think. Until next time.


	9. Chapter 9

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 9

Summary: Sam's visions have been manifesting physically and thanks to the Demon he is definitely in worse shape. With Bobby's help, Dean gets Sam to a hospital in time but after a slow recovery Sam takes a turn for the worse and Dean doesn't handle it well. Now, Dean's in a catatonic state and Sam and Bobby aren't sure what to do. Plus, the Demon seems out to get both Winchester boys and will stop at nothing until at least one of them is dead.

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by iS2 (dot) coheed (dot) and (dot) cambria

It's not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one. If you want to read it go to my favorite stories and click on the link.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give and love to hear what you think about the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It had been two days since Sam had left the hospital and Dean still hadn't improved much. In fact in some ways he had deteriorated. Missouri had said that his spirit was responsive, but with each day it seemed to fade just a little more. The doctors said they weren't sure why Dean wasn't waking up, but the hunters had their theories.

Finally, Missouri called the motel and asked for Sam to come to the hospital.

Sam hadn't been out of the motel since they had arrived two days before and Sam was a little apprehensive to leave. Not only was the Demon after him, but he was afraid if he went to see his brother his vision of Dean dying by his hand would come true. But he had to go see Dean. Dean needed him and he wasn't about to deny his big brother anything. He just hoped that somehow he could reach Dean when nothing else had worked.

As Sam walked down the hospital hallway towards Dean's room with Bobby in tow, his fears began to run rampant. What if the Demon had mystically poisoned Dean in some way? What if his brother didn't ever wake up? What if his vision came true? What if he died? Sam pushed that last thought away and resolved to make damn sure that it never did.

Sam stepped into Dean's room and gasped in shock. He knew his brother was bad, but not this bad.

Dean, his bigger than life older brother, seemed impossibly small and fragile laying there in the bed. Tubes going in and out of his body while machines clicked and whirred as they helped his brother in one way or another. Everything just seemed to make the reality of the situation even more real. Sam felt frozen in fear at the sight. He thought back to the dream he'd had two days ago about him and his brother.

_Don't you forget, little brother, __I won't let anything happen to you._ Dean had said to him after he had woken up with a nightmare.

But how would he protect him now.

Missouri sensed Sam's entrance and turned to look at him with sad eyes. "Oh, Sam, I'm sorry you have to see your brother like this."

Sam's thoughts went to the other times he had seen his brother in the hospital. After he had been electrocuted during the rawhead hunt, and after the Demon had practically torn Dean apart before the car crash. Both times just as frightening as this time. And yet, this time it hadn't been just a demon that had done the damage to his big brother. Dean's own guilt over everything he thought he had failed at had made the first blow.

Missouri nodded sympathetically as she came and took Sam's hand. "I know it's never easy, is it?' She then frowned and looked up at Sam. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Sam shook his head as he looked at Dean and tried to discreetly remove his hand from Missouri's grasp. "It's nothing. Just…worried about Dean is all."

Missouri searched his face for the truth, but Sam hid his thoughts from her hoping she wouldn't sense his fear of what he'd seen. Sam turned away from Missouri's searching eyes and walked over to his brother's bed. He sat down on the hard plastic chair situated next to it and took Dean's hand in his own. He looked over at the cast on his brother's other hand where he had broken it when he punched the wall and frowned.

"We'll leave you two alone," said Missouri and Sam looked at her with worried eyes.

He so desperately wanted to say, _'Don't leave me alone with him!'_ But instead he just nodded and thanked them before she and Bobby left. He took a shuddering breath and turned back to his brother. "Hey, Dean, I don't know if you can hear me or not; but…dude you look like crap. But, then I guess that you always have so maybe this is an improvement." Sam chuckled softly at his joke and then swallowed hard against the lump forming in his throat letting his smile slip from his face.

He looked down at his hand holding Dean's and then back up at his brother's peaceful face. "You know it's not that much fun talking to myself. I just wish you'd wake up and give me one of those patented Dean smirks." Sam looked down at Dean's hand in his again and squeezed it slightly feeling tears start to well up in his eyes.

"Dean, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If it hadn't been for me, none of this would've happened." Sam could feel the tears start to run down his cheeks and he hung his head so Dean wouldn't see him cry. "Mom, Jess, Dad…they'd still be alive if it wasn't for me. And you," Sam bit his lip against the pain in his heart. "You'd probably be working in some garage, living in Lawrence with some hot girl thinking how great your life was." Sam chuckled sadly at the thought. "You've always protected me my whole life. Hell, I wouldn't' be alive if you hadn't carried me out of the house when I was a baby." Another tear fell and landed on Dean's hand. "And as messed up as our lives have been…I wouldn't trade it for the world." Sam finally looked up wishing for nothing more than to see his brother awake. "You're my big brother, Dean. You have to get better because I don't think I can do this without you. Just, please, you gotta wake up, Dean."

Sam laid his head down on the edge of Dean's bed and just let the tears flow freely. His body shook as he cried for everything that had ever happened. His brother had sacrificed everything for him always putting his own dreams on hold to put Sam's dreams first. He cried for the innocence Dean had lost, for the fact that their life had to be so hard. He cried for the loss of their Dad, for Jess, for their mother, and it was because of him. It was his fault that all of this had happened and his heart ached with the grief of it all.

As he felt his tears start to slow, he felt a hand lay gently on his head and Sam looked up to see that it was Dean. He was awake and looking at his brother with concern and a little fear in his eyes. "Dean?" Sam asked with awe.

Dean tried to smile slightly but couldn't with the tube down his throat. He gagged slightly but closed his eyes and tried to calm down. This wasn't the first time he had woken up with a tube down his throat, but it was still hard to not panic.

Sam saw his brother struggling to stay calm and he wiped away his tears as he pushed the call button for a nurse. "It's okay, Dean, just relax. A nurse should be coming soon. Oh, God. I was so worried about you."

Dean opened his eyes and looked at Sam. He swiped his hand across Sam's cheek to catch some of the remaining tears and then looked at his brother with a furrowed brow as if to ask his brother if he'd been crying.

Sam smiled and laughed a little. "Yeah, I know. Guys don't cry right?" Dean blinked and nodded as best he could without moving too much and then closed his eyes. _Damn straight, Sammy._

The nurse came in and asked what Sam needed.

"He's awake."

The nurse looked over at Dean and saw him open his eyes to look at her. "So he is," she said in mild shock. "I'll go page, Dr. Howitz."

She left the room and Missouri and Bobby walked in just as she left. "I thought I felt a change," said Missouri happily when she saw Dean was awake.

"Hey, Dean," Bobby said not able to wipe the dopey grin he had off his face. "You had us worried sick."

Dean just rolled his eyes and Missouri frowned and raised a finger to shake it at Dean. "Now don't be trying to brush this off as nothing. I don't think you realize what's been going on around here."

Dean just blinked in response and gave her a frown as if asking what she was talking about.

"We'll explain it all later," Bobby said trying to avoid this discussion until later. "I'm just glad you're awake. Now you can take over watching Sam here," he chided pointing in Sam's direction. "Make sure he stays out of trouble."

Sam scoffed slightly and looked between Dean and Bobby. "Hey, I don't get into that much trouble." Even Dean rolled his eyes at that one.

Just then the doctor and nurse walked into the room and all conversation stopped. "Well, good morning. Nice to see you awake, Dean. Now, if you'll excuse us for a little bit. I want to examine him and see about maybe taking that tube out. If you'll all step out into the lobby for a few minutes, I'll send a nurse to get you when you can come back."

Sam started to get up to follow Bobby and Missouri, but his brother's grip tightened on his hand and Sam looked back at him in question. The look on his face asked if Sam was okay and Sam nodded. "Don't worry. I'm okay. We'll be back in a few minutes." He squeezed Dean's hand one more time before finally letting go and walking out to the lobby.

Missouri was already seated in one of the chairs and Bobby had decided to go and get a cup of coffee from the cafeteria while they waited. Sam sat down heavily in a chair across from Missouri and felt his body start to relax. He felt drained from his out pouring of emotions and from the constant worry for the past few days. He leaned his head back against the wall and sighed in relief. At least his brother was doing better. He didn't have to worry so much about him. His eyelids grew heavy and he tried to stay awake, but soon found himself falling asleep. His head lolled to the side and he was truly asleep.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Missouri watched as Sam fell asleep in the chair and smiled slightly. She knew he hadn't been sleeping well and had been worrying himself sick over his brother and was thankful that he could finally get a little sleep. But she was also worried. She knew that Sam was hiding something, but she wasn't sure what it was. Bobby had told her about the nightmare Sam had had two days ago and wondered if there was more to it than he was letting on. Bobby had thought for sure that Sam was holding something back, but so far Missouri hadn't been able to figure it out. She just sighed in frustration and shook her head. Winchesters could be so stubborn some times. She just hoped that he would tell them when he was ready and hoped that when that time came that it wasn't too late.

Sam sighed slightly and his body jerked slightly but he did not wake and soon he settled back down.

Bobby walked back in about that time with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a tea in the other. He offered Missouri the tea and she smiled gratefully.

"Thanks," she said as she accepted the cup.

Bobby sat down and looked over at Sam. "I see he finally let his guard down," he whispered not wanting to wake the boy.

Missouri just smiled. "Yeah, those boys have never been one to give up easily have they?"

Bobby just snorted in response. "Like a pit bull with a bone," he grumbled as he took a sip of coffee. "I just hope that Dean can get him to tell us what's he's been holding back."

Missouri just nodded. She was hoping the same thing, but for now they would let Sam sleep.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sam was still asleep when a nurse came to tell them they could see Dean now.

Missouri shook Sam slightly and he bolted awake grabbing her arm. "It's okay, Sam. It's me, Missouri," she said quickly.

Sam looked at her with a confused look and then he remembered where he was and let go of her arm. "Sorry. What happened?" he asked groggily trying to blink his eyes back into focus. Missouri smiled slightly as she and Bobby exchanged knowing smiles as Sam worked to wake himself up. "You just fell asleep. Come on. They say we can go in and see Dean," Bobby said getting to his feet.

The young hunter looked up at him trying to register what he had said. Finally realizing what Bobby was talking about he nodded and stood up. He groaned slightly as his body protested against the movement.

Bobby just chuckled. "That's what you get for sleeping in that position."

Sam just rubbed his sore neck and frowned slightly. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled and then shuffled off down the hall towards Dean's room.

When they got to Dean's room he was sitting up in bed and he looked so much better. They had removed the breathing tube and a little color was coming back into his cheeks. He was laying there with his eyes closed just enjoying breathing on his own.

"Hey, I thought you'd be wide awake. You've only been asleep for how long?" Sam asked as he walked into the room followed by the other two.

Dean gave a little smirk and then opened his eyes to look up at his brother. "Yeah, well, what can I say? I need my beauty sleep," he said rather softly his throat still kind of sore from the breathing tube being pulled out.

Sam chuckled softly as he sat down in the chair beside Dean. "Yeah? I don't think it's working because you look like hell."

"Gee thanks, Sammy, right back at you." Dean looked at his little brother with concern in his eyes noticing the dark circles under his eyes and how he still held himself rather stiffly. "How're you doing?"

Sam nodded. "I'm, okay."

Dean knew it was a lie, but let it slide. He was just glad to see his brother up and about.

"Well, all I gotta say is that both of you had us worried sick," said Missouri. "And don't you try to shrug it off boy." She pointed at Dean. "I don't think you realize how close we came to losing you."

"Yeah," Bobby said as he settled himself on the windowsill. "You boys need to learn how to take care of yourselves. It seems like every week you guys are getting into some kind of new trouble."

"Okay, now that that's been settled. Let's get back to business. It seems we've got a demon that needs to be taken care of," said Missouri settling down on the edge of Dean's bed.

Dean felt tired and just wanted to go back to sleep, but talk of the Demon brought him back to full attention. _The Demon, what? _"What'd I miss?" he asked worriedly. Had the Demon come back for Sam while he was out? Had Sam got hurt again?

Sam just chuckled slightly. "Oh, nothing, the Demon just tried to kill you is all." He smiled slightly as shock and then anger showed in his brother's eyes.

"That son of a-"

"Watch your language," said Missouri sternly and Dean cowered slightly.

"Sorry. It's just…we gotta kill this thing. It wants Sam for God knows what, and now it's trying to kill me too?" He turned to look at Bobby then. "Bobby, please tell me you've got an idea on how to kill this thing for good."

Bobby just shrugged. "Sorry, kid. I've been researching since I found out it was after you two and I can't find _anything_Outside of the Colt that is. I've even had Ash searching for something, but all he's found in bupkis. The best we can do is exorcise its ass and send it back to Hell."

Dean frowned at that. _Damn._ "Well at least that's something. Still I wish we could find _something_ else that could kill that sonova- demon." He finished weakly looking nervously at Missouri who just frowned at him. "Okay then. So what's the plan?" There was silence in the room. "There is a plan isn't there?" Dean looked at each person in turn for an answer.

There was a tense silence amongst them and it all seemed to be pointing toward Sam who was suddenly very interested in looking at his shoes. "Sam, what's wrong?"

Sam peeked up at Dean through his long hair as if afraid to voice what he had to say. "Well, uh, I had a vision," he mumbled the last part and Dean frowned in confusion until it struck him what Sam had said.

Dean tried to sit forward and searched Sammy's face with concern. "Are you okay?" _Oh, God, now what. Was he hurt?_

Sam nodded. "No, I'm okay. No injuries, just…normal. As normal as a vision can be I guess," he said matter-of-factly.

Dean just rolled his eyes slightly in agreement. Nothing was normal about Sam's freaky powers thing but he knew there was more. "And?"

Sam looked at his feet again not wanting to look at Dean.

"Sam," Dean said sternly.

Sam looked up at him sharply before looking away again. "Uh, it was about you," he said hesitantly. "In this room, the Demon was here and he…"

Dean just looked at Sam. "He what, Sam?" he demanded.

Sam swallowed hard and bit his lower lip before continuing. "He killed you," he said softly. He hadn't wanted to tell him. He hated that he had seen his brother's death, but at his own hands. Sam felt his stomach do a little flip and he tried to choke back the sudden wave of nausea that passed over him.

Dean just looked at Sam. "How?" he asked needing to know all the details.

Sam never looked up. "He stabbed you in the heart." Sam looked up at him hoping his brother wouldn't see through his partial lie. "Dean, I think you knew them."

"You didn't see the person's face?"

Sam just shook his head. It wasn't technically a lie. He just didn't say that he knew that it was him who had done it.

Dean let this sink in trying to figure out what to do. He looked between Sam and the other two and realized that they knew what Sam had seen and didn't know what to do. He bit his lip in worry. If Sam's vision came true, there was a pretty good chance that he would not make it out of this hospital, but at least they knew that the Demon would be coming. He wished he had a weapon of some kind to protect himself with. He would have to make preparations. "Okay. So, we use me as bait."

Sam's head shot up to look at his brother and he knew that Bobby and Missouri had similar looks on their faces.

: If we know the Demon's going to come after me, then I say we use it to our advantage," said Dean as if the matter was settled.

Sam sat there with his jaw hanging open unable to even form a coherent thought for a moment.

It was finally Bobby who spoke. "Dean, do you realize what you're saying? I mean, you're hurt. The Demon's already tried to kill you once and it would have worked if Missouri hadn't figured it out. If anything goes wrong or if we can't send it back to Hell"

"You could die," Sam finished for Bobby in disbelief.

Dean shrugged slightly. "If that's what it takes." Sam spluttered in response. "If that- Dean…no…you can't do this."

"Sam-" Dean started.

"No, Dean," Sam said steadily. "I can't lose you. You're the only family I have left. We can find some other way," he said more and more desperation making its way into his voice with each passing word.

"Like what, Sam!" said Dean harshly. "This is the best plan we've had since we started this fight. This is the demon we've been searching for for over twenty year, Sam. It's what killed Mom. It killed Jess…Dad." His voice broke softly on the last. "If we have a chance to kill it or at least send it packing, then we have to try," he said with deadly calm. "Otherwise, this will never be done."

Sam just clenched his jaw and shook his head not wanting to look at his brother as tears start to form in his eyes.

"It wants you, Sam. Hell, it wants me dead. If we don't do something…we may lose our only chance to get this bastard. And I _won't_ take that risk." Dean's eyes locked with his brother's trying to make him understand. "Please, Sammy, I need to do this," Dean pleaded.

Sam just stared at Dean for a moment longer and then finally looked away again as a tear finally fell. "Fine," he said softly hanging his head in defeat. "But if we're going to do this, we're going to set up as many wards as possible so we can protect your sorry ass," he said bitterly before standing and heading for the door.

He turned and looked at Missouri. "Can you stay with him until we get back?"

Missouri nodded as she searched his face worried about what she was getting feeling wise from Sam. Something was wrong.

Sam nodded. "Okay, Bobby, you coming?"

Bobby nodded and left the room worried about both brothers. This just felt all wrong.

Sam looked back at his brother with concern and fear in his eyes. He knew from his vision that it would be him to try and kill Dean, and he wished that he could convince his brother not to do this. But once Dean decided on something there was no way to convince him otherwise. They had both lost too much to the Yellow Eyed Demon to turn back now.

He locked eyes with Dean and said, "Don't trust anyone."

His brother looked at him quizzically, but nodded in agreement. Then Sam was gone.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sam sat in the passenger of Bobby's truck lost in thought. He had to figure out how to save his brother because Dean wasn't going to. He had lost so much in his life and he knew if he lost Dean he wouldn't survive. Through everything, he had always had Dean.

Sam knew there was no way in Hell he could go back to that hospital and run the risk of the Demon trying to get to him. But how was he going to pull that off? He knew he should just tell Bobby what he had seen, but for some reason he just couldn't. He didn't know if it would change the outcome or if the Demon would find another way to make it come true. He frowned in frustration trying to come up with a plan and sighed heavily.

Bobby looked over at Sam as he stared out the window and his worry turned up a few more notches. "You're awful quiet," he finally said.

Sam turned to him slowly. "Huh? Oh, yeah, just…trying to think of what to do. I just wish Dean wouldn't be so pig headed sometimes."

Bobby laughed softly at this. "Yeah, I think you Winchester's have the patent on being pig headed" That got a small smile from Sam. "You never could tell your daddy what to do either when he'd made up his mind."

Sam smiled sadly then. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Dean always did take after Dad in that department"

Silence fell between the two hunters for a moment and then Bobby spoke. "Sam…I know there's more to that vision you had than you're letting on."

Sam looked at him with a look of surprise.

"I can see it in your eyes. Why won't you tell me?"

Sam looked down at his hands not wanting to look Bobby in the eye. "Bobby, please, just…let it go," he said softly.

"If you know who the Demon is going to possess, we need to know, Sam. Right now, we can't trust anyone and that's difficult to do."

Sam nodded slightly. "I know…but I can't. I don't know who it is for sure."

Bobby knew he was lying but if Sam didn't want to discuss it then Bobby knew Sam must have a good reason not to. Even Missouri had tried to read him, but couldn't get a fix on what it was. "Okay," he said resolutely. "But just know. If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

Sam gave a half grin and looked quickly at Bobby. "Thanks I appreciate that." Sam went back to starring out the window again and Bobby looked at him worriedly.

Soon they were at the motel and parked next to the Impala. They had brought it back here just yesterday feeling that Sam was finally fit enough to drive.

About an hour later they had almost everything they needed packed and a plan had been formulated.

Bobby was finishing packing some herbs and stuff into a bag when Sam suddenly spoke. "Hey, Bobby, I need to get something out of the Impala. Do you have the keys?"

Bobby stopped packing and fished the keys out of his pocket handing them to Sam.

Sam smiled slightly as he took the keys. "Okay. I'll be back in a second."

Bobby nodded and went back to packing the bag.

Sam quietly picked up his bag and then stepped out of the room. He quickly put a note on the windshield of Bobby's truck before opening the driver's door of the Impala and getting in. He sat there for a second starring at the motel room door and then sighed as he started up the car. "Sorry, Bobby, but this is the only way."

He quickly pulled out of the spot and had just stuck it in drive when Bobby came out of the room.

"Sam?" Bobby asked in confusion as he watched the young man pull away leaving Bobby in his wake.

Sam sped away without looking at Bobby and was gone before Bobby could even get five steps.

Bobby watched the Impala disappear around a corner and turned back to the room. "Damn it!" He kicked the gravel in frustration and then huffed out a breath as he put his hands on his hips. He then noticed the note on his truck and tore it open. As he read it a look of sadness crossed his face. "Damn it, Sam. You should've told us," he grumbled as he folded the letter back up. He took once last look out towards the street and then headed back into the room.

Ten minutes later he was out the door and pulling away from the motel heading towards the hospital. Boy, was Dean gonna be pissed.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A/N: Okay, new chappy. Hope you liked it. Let me know by sending me a review. Yeah, the little button to the left? Click it. It'll make me really happy. Once again thanks for reading.

A/N 2: I'm looking into starting a new story and have a couple ideas floating around in my head. I'd like to hear from you on which one I should work on next. So…go to my profile page and place a vote for which story you would like to see me work on next. Scroll down to the bottom and check out the summaries and then vote on the poll at the top. Whichever story gets the most votes will be the story I work on next. So, see you next time.


	10. Chapter 10

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 10

Summary: Sam's visions have been manifesting physically and thanks to the Demon he is definitely in worse shape. With Bobby's help, Dean gets Sam to a hospital in time but after a slow recovery Sam takes a turn for the worse and Dean doesn't handle it well. Now, the Demon seems out to get both Winchester boys and will stop at nothing until at least one of them is dead. But will Sam's visions help or hinder the Demons pursuit?

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by iS2 (dot) coheed (dot) and (dot) cambria

It's not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one. If you want to read it, go to my favorite stories and click on the link there or go to iS2's profile page.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry. Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give and love to hear what you think about the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

A/N2: This chapter is a long one, and if there are any mistakes in the medical stuff I'm sorry. I tried to do some research, but there's only so much this layman can do with medical jargon. Hope you enjoy it.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sam drove out of town not sure where to go. But as long as he didn't go anywhere near the hospital, Dean would be safe. At least there was no possibility of his vision coming true that way. He sighed in relief and scrubbed his face with his hand. He knew that the demon wanted him and that he'd probably come after him, but at least Dean wouldn't get hurt in the process.

He had lost so much in his life; he couldn't lose his brother too. He was the only thing he had left. If he lost Dean, he would probably lose himself as well. As he drove down the two lane highway, Sam figured he'd drive for at least a couple more hours and then stop. He was starting to get tired and his side was beginning to hurt, but for now he would continue to drive.

He smiled slightly and gave a small laugh when he thought about what Dean would probably say when he found out what Sam had done. Oh, Dean was so going to kick his ass.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"That stupid sonuva-"

"Dean!" Missouri admonished loudly. "Don't you talk about your brother that way. I'm sure he had a good reason for doing what he did."

Dean didn't' look happy, but at least he didn't say anything more about his brother.

"Now, Bobby, let me see the letter." She held her hand out to Bobby expectantly and Bobby looked at her quizzically.

"How did you?... Oh, never mind." He pulled the letter out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Dean looked at him questioningly. "What letter?"

Bobby sighed and looked at Dean. "Sam left a letter. I was gonna tell you, but I didn't get a chance," he grumbled the last as he looked accusingly back at the psychic.

Missouri had a sad look on her face as she read the letter. "Oh, Sam, you poor boy."

Dean looked worried. "What? Let me see that." He reached out for the letter quickly wanting to know what his brother had said.

Missouri handed him the letter and Dean read what his brother had wrote.

_Hey, Bobby,_

_Sorry I had to leave like I did, but it was the only way. It was the only thing I could think of to save Dean. You were right that there was more to my vision than I was saying, but it was too complicated to explain in person. You see, the demon that killed Dean in my vision was me. _

_I'm sorry, Dean, if you're reading this but I couldn't take the chance of coming back to the hospital and anything happening to you. I know you'll say it's your job to protect me, but let me do this just this once. _

_I know the demon is still after me and he probably won't stop until he gets m; but hopefully, my leaving will keep you all out of danger. Now don't try to find me. Just go ahead with the plan and try and get this bastard. Hopefully it won't be me. Take care of yourself and hopefully I'll see you again._

_Sam._

Dean's jaw clenched as he tried to hide the emotions threatening to take him over. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself before speaking. "So, now what do we do?" he asked, his throat feeling tight with emotion not trusting himself to speak anymore.

Missouri touched his hand and she smiled slightly at him knowing how hard this was for him.

Bobby finally broke the silence. "We stick with the plan and hope that we can stop this bastard."

Dean nodded. "What if it doesn't work?"

Bobby shrugged slightly. "Well, then I guess we come up with a plan B, then."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sam drove for about four hours more and then he had to stop hoping that it was far enough. He was so tired and his side hurt from driving for so long.

He checked into a small motel and walked slowly to his room. He knew that the older woman behind the counter had been worried about him, but she had reassured her that he was just tired. As he walked to his room, he had to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. He fumbled with the lock and groaned as he dropped the keys. He stiffly bent down using the door frame to steady himself when a wave of dizziness washed over him.

When he finally made it into the room, he sighed in relief as he sat down on the bed and looked around. He had salted the door and windows and he looked around to observe the small room. It felt weird not having his brother there with him. Without thinking he had got a double room and was now sitting on the farthest bed from the door. He gave a small laugh at the old habit. Dean always took the first bed. To protect Sam. Sam's smile faltered at the thought of his brother. He hoped that Dean was okay.

He knew that he was probably dreaming thinking that if he stayed away the demon would leave his brother alone, but he had to try. It was his turn to protect his brother.

With a heavy sigh Sam pulled his shoes off before crawling into bed too tired to think anything beyond just going to sleep. He was asleep even before his head hit the pillow.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hey, Sam, wake up," someone whispered. "Sammy," they said a little bit louder.

Sam groaned not wanting to wake up.

"Wake up," the voice sing-songed and Sam groaned again.

"Mmmm, five more minutes, Dean," Sam mumbled as he pulled the covers up over his head.

"Come on, Sammy-boy. Wake up," a man said and then bed suddenly shook as he jostled the mattress.

Sam was suddenly awake. He knew that voice, and it wasn't his brothers. His eyes flew open and he looked up to see yellow eyes staring back at him. "You! What? How?" He scrambled back on the bed and winced at the pain in his side from the sudden movement. He gripped at his side and hissed slightly in pain.

The man sitting on a chair next to the bed just laughed. "You know as many times as you've seen me. You'd think that you wouldn't get so excited by now." He smiled at Sam and Sam glared back at him.

"Yeah, well, you would too if you saw your ugly face," Sam said bitterly.

The Demon acted as if he were wounded grabbing his chest dramatically. "Oh! That hurts. Sticks and stones, Sammy-boy," he said smiling as he waggled a finger at Sam in admonishment. The smile dropped from his face and his eyes turned cold then. "Of course, if I wanted to I could hurt you a lot more."

Sam just stared at the demon for a moment before finally breaking the silence. "Why?" he asked.

Yellow eyes just stared at him. "Why what? Why don't I hurt you? Or why am I here?" asked the demon.

"Yes," said Sam desperately wanting answers. "Why are you here? Why do you want me so bad?"

The demon sat back lacing his hands behind his head as if contemplating on what to say. "Well, Sam…it's just that you're my chosen." He let his hands fall to his knees with a slight slap. "You are the best person for the job and I want _you_ on my side."

Sam starting shaking his head even before the Demon had finished. "No. I'll never join you."

"Now, don't be so sure of that, Sam. You see, I can make all of this go away." He made a sweeping gesture over Sam and then crappy little room. "All of the hurt, all of the loss. I can make it aaallll disappear. You could be _free_ of all these emotions and feelings of guilt. And all you gotta do is just say yes."

Sam was breathing hard trying to control his anger as he stared daggers at the man. "Why would I ever follow you," he bit out coldly. "You took _everything_ away from me. My mom, Jess, Dad," Sam was almost quivering with anger and he gritted his teeth in frustration. "And now…you want to take my brother too? Now why would I _ever_ join you?"

The demon sighed and dropped his head to look at the floor. He then sat forward folding his hands in front of him before looking up at Sam. "Well, you've got a point there, but you see… Everything you've lost, it's just made you stronger. Your mother's death made you a soldier. Your _father_," the Demon said with disgust. "Thought he was protecting you by teaching you how to fight evil, but in truth he was making you into his enemy's best weapon: a soldier. Someone who can fight and kill, and yet doesn't feel remorse."

Sam shook his head. "No, he failed. I'm not the perfect soldier."

The demon held up a finger. "Ah, true, you _do_ feel remorse when you kill, but you still know how to fight and that still makes you a valuable commodity."

"And, Jess," Sam said his voice breaking slightly. "Why did you kill her?" He already knew, but he still needed to hear it.

"Oh come on, Sammy," the Demon said as if it were the most obvious thing. "You already know that one."

Still Sam just looked at him so the Demon just sighed and rolled his eyes. "She was making you soft, Samuel." He got up and began to pace. "All you wanted to do was be normal. Go to school, get married, have 2.5 kids and get a _real_ job. But, I couldn't have that." He stopped pacing and looked back at Sam still sitting on the bed looking at him. "I needed you sharp. I needed you out hunting, honing your skills, discovering your powers…and you couldn't do that with Miss. _Plain Jane_."

Tears welled in Sam's eyes and he tried to fight them back. "So you killed her," he whispered.

The demon nodded. "And now…with your father gone, Dean is the only thing that stands between you and your destiny."

"You stay away from him you sonuvabitch," Sam bit out fiercely.

"Well, that depends on you, Sammy-boy." The Demon came and sat back down fixing Sam with a hard stare. "You see if you join me now. I'll let your brother live."

Sam shook his head. "No, you're lying. You couldn't let him live. He would never stop looking for me. Sooner or later, he'd come after us both."

The demon held out his hands in a 'what can you do' sort of way. "Well, then you can't blame a guy for defending himself can you." He smiled slightly at that thought.

Sam shook his head. "No, no I won't let that happen. I won't let him die. I won't join you."

The Demon just stared at him. "You're sure."

Sam just tightened his jaw and held the Demon's gaze. "I'd rather die than become something evil."

The Demon then sighed in frustration looking down at his hands as if defeated. "Well then…if you won't join me willingly. I guess I'll have to do it unwillingly for now."

Sam was thrown from the bed by an invisible force and slammed into the wall. He groaned in pain and struggled to free himself. As he struggled he could see a black cloud start to form from under the front door and move towards him.

Sam wondered for a moment how the Demon had gotten in but then he saw the crumpled form of the old woman from the desk lying on the floor near the door and knew that the Demon must have tricked her into helping him. Sam struggled against the invisible bands that held him against the wall, but he couldn't get free.

"Don't worry, Sammy. This won't hurt at all. I'm sure you remember my son," said the demon casually.

The black cloud rushed towards Sam and Sam struggled against the invading demon.

"No! Don't!" Sam shouted as the last of the black cloud entered Sam. With one final jerk Sam closed his eyes and went completely still. When his eyes snapped open again they were pitch black.

The YED released his hold on Sam's body and he dropped to the floor with a cat like grace before rolling his shoulders experimentally. "Hello, father," Sam said with an evil grin.

"Son," the YED said.

Sam looked down at his hands and body taking stock before he pulled up his shirt to reveal the stab wound in his side. He was already starting to heal and as he stared at it, then wound closed completely leaving not even a scar. He then looked up at his father with those black, soulless eyes. "There, that's better. They'll be waiting for me to come. He told them about his vision."

The YED nodded. "Yes, I figured as much. So let's give them a distraction." The two of them smiled wickedly and then left the motel room.

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Dean lay in the hospital bed and worried about his brother. How could he have been so stupid? He knew something wasn't right yet he had let it go.

He figured he'd get it out of Sam sooner or later. Now, it was too late. His brother was gone and he couldn't protect him. Instead Sam was trying to protect him and that just felt wrong. That was his job: to protect Sam. He wished that it didn't have to be like that though.

He wished that his brother could have a normal life. Hell, he wished _he_ could have a normal life, but no. That was part of the Winchester curse. They had lost so much in their lives and suffered for so long and all because of that cursed yellow-eyed bastard. Sometimes he just wished that it would all be done.

Now the Demon was after Sam, and he wanted to kill Dean to get him out of the way. Well, damn if he was going to let that happen.

Suddenly he was aware of Missouri hand holding his and he looked up at her slightly startled. He tried to smile to reassure her that he was okay, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

She could feel his inner turmoil and her heart broke for him. He and Sam had seen so much in their short lives. It shouldn't have to be this way. "He'll be okay, Dean. You'll see."

Dean just nodded slightly before looking away.

Missouri let Dean's hand go before going back to her reading. Bobby sat in the other chair in the room on the other side of the bed between Dean and the door with his hat pulled down over his eyes pretending to be asleep, but Dean could tell by how he held himself that he poised to act if need be. The room felt tense as the three didn't know what was going to happen next or who they could trust.

If the demon found out that Sam had left, he may try to use someone else to get to Dean, and that proved to be nerve wracking. They had set up as many wards as possible around the room without drawing too much suspicion from the nurses and now they just had to wait.

There was a knock at the door and a nice looking nurse with brown hair walked into the room. "Hello just came to check on our patient. I need to check his wounds and take his vitals, so could you step outside for a moment?" She smiled sweetly at Missouri and Bobby and then went to get the clipboard and some gloves.

Dean and Bobby shared a wary glance wondering whether she could be possessed.

Finally Dean broke the silence. "Christo."

The nurse turned to him with a confused look. "Excuse me? Did you say something?" Her eyes were a soft green color, not the pure black that they expected and all three of them released a small sigh of relief.

Dean gave one of his award winning smiles. "Nothing, I just had a tickled in my throat." He coughed as if demonstrating.

The nurse just looked at him funny and turned back to what she had been doing.

Missouri and Bobby left saying they'd be just outside and left Dean alone with the nurse. He ran his fingers absently over the knife he had hidden in the bed and then quickly hid it under his pillow before she turned back around.

"So how are you feeling today, Mr. Coolidge?" she said as she came over to the bed and started to take his vitals.

Dean looked at her name tag and gave her a bright smile. "I'm feeling pretty good, Sarah." _I'd be better if I knew where my brother was._

She just smiled and then took his pulse. "No pain?"

Dean shook his head. "Nope. The burns a little itchy, but no big deal."

She wrote down some stuff on his chart and then looked up at him and motioned to the burn on his leg. "May I?"

Dean nodded. "Sure."

She pulled back the covers and removed the bandage to reveal the handprint burn on his thigh. It looked like it was healing nicely. "It's probably itchy because it's healing. It looks good, shouldn't leave too much of a scar." She got some ointment and put it on the wound. "How'd you get it anyways?"

Dean shrugged slightly. _A ghost burned me._ "Don't remember really."

She re-bandaged the wound and then turned away to pick up the trash and write some notes.

Dean watched her as she wrote on his chart, but soon she looked up at him and he felt embarrassed for staring. He looked out the window as she finished up. "Hey, I was wondering when I can get outta here?" He turned back to her and she had finished writing and was loading a syringe with some kind of drug.

She smiled slightly. "Well, I don't see any signs of infection in your leg, and your vitals seem pretty good." She turned towards him and then put the shot into his I.V. bag. "I'll have to talk to the doctor, but I'd say probably pretty soon." She turned away and threw away the needle. "Maybe even today." She smiled at him.

He smiled back. "That's great. Hey what was that?" he said looking down at his arm. Where the I.V. went in was felt kinda funny.

Sarah just shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Just something to help you sleep."

Dean gave a lopsided grin. "But why would I need something to help me sleep? It's the middle of the day?" Suddenly he found it hard to breathe. His chest and throat constricted and his breath came in short wheezing gasps. His heart rate started to rise and he knew he was in trouble. "What did…you…give…me?" Dean gasped out as his vision started to blur.

Not answering him, Sarah stepped closer to the bed and started to lower the head of the bed. "Don't worry, Dean. Just relax. Let the drug work."

Dean shook his head jerkily as he felt the funny sensation start to spread throughout his body. What was happening? He gasped for air as he fumbled for the call button, but Sarah grabbed it away from him.

"Now you don't need that. I'm already here," she said sweetly as she smiled down at him.

Dean looked up at her with panicked eyes. "Christo," he said breathlessly.

Sarah flinched and her eyes turned pitch black as the demon showed itself.

_Oh shit_. "Help!" Dean tried but there was no sound that came out. He gasped trying to ward off unconsciousness but couldn't get air into his constricted lungs. He tried to sit up but found that he couldn't get his body to cooperate. _Come on, damn it!_

Suddenly Sarah pulled the pillow out from under his head and Dean's head flopped back with a dull thud. "Here, why don't I help you with that?" She then forced the pillow over Dean's face and he struggled helplessly as she suffocated him.

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Bobby and Missouri waited out in the hallway just outside Dean's door waiting for the nurse to finish.

Suddenly Missouri felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she gasped in surprise. Something was wrong.

Bobby heard her gasp and looked at her in confusion. "Missouri?" he asked in concern.

Missouri continued to stare off into the distance not acknowledging Bobby's presence. She reached out with her mind to Dean wanting to make sure he was okay and felt his cry for help. She then grabbed Bobby's arm in a tight grip. "Bobby, something's wrong."

They hurried back into the room and could see the nurse holding a pillow over Dean's face and Dean's meager attempts to fight back. His hands curled around her forearms weakly as he tried to pull the pillow away.

"Damn it!" Bobby shouted. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a bottle of Holy water as Missouri moved to the far corner waiting for her opportunity to help Dean. "Christo!" he yelled at the nurse.

She jerked slightly and turned to Bobby with black eyes as she continued to suffocate Dean. "You're too late," she growled as she turned back to Dean.

A shiver of fear shot through Bobby and he threw the Holy water at her. She cried out in pain as it burnt her skin and she finally let go of the pillow before launching herself at Bobby.

Missouri hurried over to the other side of the bed and pulled the pillow off of Dean. He looked at her with frightened eyes as he gasped for air. She looked at the heart monitor and saw that his heart rate was through the roof as the monitor began to blare in alarm. "Oh, hell," was all she said.

Bobby let out a strangled cry of pain as the demon tried to throttle his neck and Missouri felt a frisson of fear shoot through her. She quickly picked up the book she had set by the bed earlier and began to read the exorcism she had bookmarked.

Bobby and the demon continued to fight as Missouri quickly read through the ritual hoping that Bobby could hold on to her long enough for it to work.

About half way through the ritual, the door opened and another nurse walked into the room. "What is going on? Oh my, God!" She took in the two fighting and the alarm going off and just froze.

Sarah turned to her and she saw the black eyes and just gaped in shock. Sarah growled in frustration and then tossed the new nurse across the room with an invisible force. She landed in a heap against the wall and was then still.

Bobby took advantage of the momentary distraction and broke her hold on his throat and then spun her around until he had the demon in a strangle hold. "Now, Missouri, finish it!" he shouted.

The nurse that had come in sat up painfully and watched in shock as Bobby had Sarah in a strangle hold and Missouri continued to read the exorcism. When she finished, Sarah cried out and the demon flew from her body as an oily black cloud which disappeared into the floor.

Sarah's body slumped lifelessly in Bobby's grip and he slid her to the floor gently.

Missouri quickly closed the book and looked at Dean. He had passed out and she could tell he was barely breathing. The alarms continued to sound their alert to his distress and Missouri quickly turned to find the other nurse still sitting on the floor in shock. "Help him!" Missouri shouted in desperation. "He isn't breathing."

The nurse, Betty was her name, snapped out of her shock at what had just happened by Missouri's cry for help; got up on shaky legs and headed over to the bed. She hit the code blue button and then started to work.

Bobby quickly moved Sarah out of the way as the room suddenly became filled activity and noise.

"He's crashing. No breath signs. Patients unconscious. Heart rate's 175. Blood pressure's 90/40 and dropping."

"We gotta get his breathing stabilized," said a new nurse.

Dr. Howitz came running into to the room having heard the code blue. "What's happening?"

"Respiratory arrest."

"Okay, can you get an air way?"

"No, damn it, his airway's too constricted," the nurse trying to stick a tube down Dean's throat said.

Dr. Howitz rushed over to the head of Dean's bed. "Here, let me try," he said as he tilted Dean's head back even further.

Betty pulled Bobby and Missouri from the room not wanting them to see anymore and led them to the waiting room down the hall.

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Bobby.

"Just let them work. He's in good hands for now," Betty said as calmly as she could muster at the moment her nerves still a little frazzled. She then looked around to see if anyone was listening and then spoke quietly. "Okay. What just happened in there? I mean Sarah's eyes…" Betty trailed off not really knowing how to describe it. "And you two were fighting, and then you were saying something in Latin, and then-"

Missouri put a calming hand on her shoulder and Betty stuttered to a stop. "Sweetie…don't worry about it right now. I know you have a lot of questions, but right now is not the time. Just know that she was trying to hurt Dean, and that we stopped her. Okay?"

Betty just looked at Missouri as she tried to wrap her mind around all of it her eyes still a little frightened. "But what do I say, if they ask me what happened to Sarah?"

Bobby answered this one. "Just tell them that Sarah was trying to kill Dean and that we fought her off. That's all."

Betty just stared at him for a second and then closed her eyes holding up her hands in an 'I give up' gesture. "Okay." She sighed heavily. "Okay, I can do this. I better get back and help out."

Missouri gave her a sad smile and a nod and Betty took off for Dean's room.

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Several hours later, Dr. Howitz came out of Dean's room.

Missouri and Bobby stood to face him. "How is he?" asked Missouri.

Dr. Howitz sighed. "He's stable. He's still in critical condition though. His heart stopped but we were able to get him back. We had to intubate him to get his breathing back under control. We'll have to do a few more tests, but it looks like he may have had an overdose."

"Of what?" asked Bobby.

"We're not sure yet. Like I said we need to run a few more tests. In the mean time, we'll be monitoring him. If he makes it through the next twenty-four hours, he should be okay. Unfortunately, we won't know if there is any lasting damage until he wakes up."

Bobby and Missouri gave a slight sigh in relief. Dean was completely out of the woods, but at least he was alive. "Oh, thank God," said Missouri quietly.

"Now," Dr. Howitz said with a steady gaze. "With that said. Can either of you explain to me what the _hell_ is happening here?"

Bobby and Missouri looked at him with puzzled looks.

"I mean, it's not every day you have _two_ nurses end up unconscious in a patient's room and have no recollection of what happened. I talked to Nurse Betty and she says that Sarah was trying to _kill_ Dean? Now, I know Sarah and I know she would _never_ do anything like that. So…you two better give me a good explanation or I'm calling the cops." The doctor fixed the two with a hard look and waited for them to start talking.

"Well, Dr. Howitz…it's just that-" began Missouri.

Bobby suddenly spoke up. "Is there some place a little more private we can speak?"

The doctor nodded and asked for them to follow.

Missouri gave Bobby a confused look and Bobby gave her a look that just said 'Trust me.'

They followed the doctor into an examination room and closed the door. "Okay, now what?" he asked.

Bobby shifted nervously and then looked up at the doctor. "This is strictly confidential and nobody can know what I'm about to tell you. Okay?"

Dr. Howitz looked confused but nodded. "Okay, I understand."

Bobby nodded and then sighed like he was telling a huge secret. "Dean and Sam aren't exactly who they say they are." Bobby could see the anger start to rise in the doctor's face and he quickly continued. "Their name isn't Coolidge, it's…Winchester. And the reason they changed their name is because they're in the Witness Protection Program."

Dr. Howitz looked lost. "What?"

Bobby continued. "You see, they're in the Witness Protection Program because they when they were younger, they witnessed a horrible murder; and the people that did it are after them. They've already tried a couple times to kill them. Unfortunately, there have been casualties; but so far, we've been able to protect the two boys. We thought they were safe, but it looks like they've found them again. They kidnapped Sam, and that's when Dean called us in. We've been sent to protect them while they were in the hospital, but obviously that's not stopping them. So-"

Dr. Howitz held up a hand. "Wait, wait... You mean to tell me that someone's trying to kill Dean and Sam? Why didn't you say something before?" he said rather heatedly.

Bobby frowned slightly. "We wanted to keep the exposure to a minimum. We didn't know who we could trust and we had hoped that this would be over soon and we could move on, but…things kinda got out of hand."

Dr. Howitz just snorted and turned away from them before rubbing a hand across his face. "So this whole time… You two knew that they could be in danger, but you didn't say anything."

Bobby just nodded reluctantly.

Anger clouded the doctor's face and he turned his full attention to Bobby. "Do you realize that you put everyone in this hospital in danger?"

Missouri finally spoke holding up a hand to try and calm the doctor. "We know that it was dangerous, but we hoped that the threat had passed."

Dr. Howitz just looked at her, anger flaring just below the surface of his eyes. He then sighed and scrubbed a hand across his face again. "Okay. Okay. So…now what?"

Bobby shrugged. "Just continue on like you have been. Maybe reduce the amount of people that come in contact with Dean. There was a nurse, Betty I think her name was, she walked in on what was happening earlier."

"What did happen earlier?" asked Dr. Howitz.

Bobby pressed his lips together trying to figure out what to tell him. "Just know that it wasn't those girls' fault what happened. They were just pawns in this game."

Dr. Howitz frowned in concern not liking their explanation. "So what do you want to do about, Betty?" he asked.

"We'll talk with her. Maybe she can help us. Other than that… The fewer people that know about this, the less of a security risk we'll have. Hopefully, we'll be outta of here in a day or two and you'll never see them again." Bobby and Missouri held their breath as Dr. Howitz tried to process all of this information.

"How do I know if this is real? I mean…do you have badges?"

Bobby pulled a badge for the FBI he had in his back pocket for just in case of emergencies like this and showed it to the doctor.

The doctor looked at it carefully and Bobby tried not to smile knowing that it would hold up to his scrutiny. After all, he had nicked it from a real FBI agent. "Now, usually I'd say contact headquarters to confirm our story, but in this case we're worried that there might be a leak and that would just tip them off. So you're gonna have to trust us."

The doctor shot him an annoyed look and then handed the badge back. "Okay, I'll go along with this, but I'm not going to endanger my staff any more than I have to. I'll see if I can get him transferred to a different room. I'll make Betty his main nurse. Hopefully, Dean will be well enough by in a few days to be discharged. We'll run a few more tests to find out exactly what happened and hopefully his breathing will become stable by morning. I'll make sure to check on him first thing in the morning."

Bobby and Missouri thanked him and then he left to arrange the room transfer.

As soon as he left Missouri turned to Bobby and gave him a smack on the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?" Bobby asked as he rubbed his arm.

"If I didn't know better, I would've believed that whole…cock and bull story. Where did you come up with that?" she hissed as she sat down in one of the chairs in the room.

Bobby just shrugged slightly. "I don't know. It just hit me and I went with it."

Missouri just shook her head. "I know. I could hear you come up with it as you went. Next time, try to come up with something not so complicated. Lordy be," Missouri said in mild exasperation.

Bobby just smiled slightly as Missouri rubbed a hand across her tight neck muscles and tried to gather her thoughts. "You have to admit. It's a pretty good cover though."

Missouri just glared up at Bobby and then shook her head and made a tsking noise. "Hunters," she grumbled under her breath and Bobby's smile just increased even more.

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A/N: Okay, so there it is. Let me know what you think by pressing the little button and sending me a review. I love reviews. They make me so happy. Just like chocolate chip cookies 


	11. Chapter 11

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 11

Summary: Sam's visions have been manifesting physically and thanks to the Demon he is definitely in worse shape. With Bobby's help, Dean gets Sam to a hospital in time but after a slow recovery Sam takes a turn for the worse and Dean doesn't handle it well. Now, the Demon seems out to get both Winchester boys and will stop at nothing until at least one of them is dead. But will Sam's visions help or hinder the Demons pursuit?

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by iS2 (dot) coheed (dot) and (dot) cambria

It's not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one. If you want to read it, go to my favorite stories and click on the link there or go to iS2's profile page.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry. Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give and love to hear what you think about the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

A/N2: Sorry for the _incredibly_ long time between updates. Between three tornado scares, two family graduations, a holiday weekend, and a partridge in a pear tree…. Yeah, okay enough excuses. Just know I'm sorry I didn't get this out sooner. So…on with the show.

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_Previously on Supernatural:_

_The Demon is out to get Sam, but he also wants to get Dean out of the picture also. So far there have been two attempts on Dean's life, but thanks to Missouri and Bobby both attempts have failed. Now the hospital thinks that the reason someone's trying to kill Dean is because the boys are in the Witness Protection program and that Missouri and Bobby are there to protect them from the 'bad' men. After a nurse sees the latest demon attack, Bobby and Missouri recruit her help and just hope that maybe now they can keep the demons from trying a third time._

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NOW:

_Riinngg._ _Riinngg._

"_Third floor Nurse's Desk,_" the female voice informed over the phone.

"Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me how Dean Coolidge is doing?" asked the Yellow-Eyed Demon using the alias his son had dug out of Sam's memories after possessing the young man. As he spoke, he made sure to put just the right amount of concern in his voice to make the nurse believe he was genuinely concerned.

"_Are you family?"_

The YED just smiled as he looked over to the other person sitting in the partial shadows of the motel room they were currently in. "Yes, uh…I'm his uncle. I've been out of town and just got the message that he and his brother were in the hospital. Please…are they okay?" The YED held his breath as the nurse on the other end paused for a moment.

"_Sir, I can't tell you much, but-"_

"Please…I just…want to know if they're okay," the YED pleaded as he inwardly laughed at the nurse's gullibility. It was so _easy_ to play on human's emotions.

The nurse paused again and the YED could almost imagine her biting her lip as she tried to decide what to tell him before she finally spoke.

"_He's resting comfortably. That's all I can tell you."_

The YED let out a breath as if in relief while he gave a silent curse. "Thank you. I understand. Have a good night." With that the YED hung up the phone and a slight sneer crossed his face before he cursed again out loud. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees as he rubbed his forehead in irritation. "That boy has more lives that _ten_ cats," he ground out before looking up at the other man in the room with a slightly weary look on his face.

"I take it he's still alive," 'Sam' said flatly before sitting forward and letting the light play off the sharp panes of his face.

The YED nodded slightly. "You'd _think_ that he'd at least have the courtesy to _die_ after everything we've done to try and make it possible." He threw Sam's cell phone on the table and sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh. "I guess now it's your turn."

He looked at Sam, or at least the body of Sam which his son was currently possessing, and gave him a concerned look. "But be careful, they'll know you're coming since Samuel told them about his vision." The YED then shook his head in frustration looking away from his son. "I still don't know why he got that vision or the one before it," he grumbled.

'Sam' frowned in concern at his father's apparent frustration and wasn't sure how to answer that. "Do you think that somebody else might be playing with him? Or maybe it's just the connection between him and Dean? I mean…both vision have been about his brother."

The YED looked over at his son from the corner of his eye and then looked away again as he pondered that thought. It had been driving him crazy since Sam had had that last vision back before he was put in the hospital, and he still hadn't figured out why.

But for now, it wasn't important.

"I don't know. Just…be careful. I don't want to lose you," he said with concern in his voice. Even if hunters thought that demons were heartless, they still did care about family.

'Sam' gave a wicked grin as he stood and gave a slight chuckle. "Oh, don't worry. I've got a plan."

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Sam had been listening to old yellow-eyes and his son as they talked. He felt his soul soar at the mention that his brother was still alive, but just as soon as that thought crossed his mind he then dreaded what might happen next. He knew that the events of his vision had yet to pass and he knew for certain that their enemy wouldn't give up that easy.

As he listened, the two demons planned what to do next. When he heard what the YED's son had planned for Dean he could feel his blood start to boil and he went bazerk.

He pounded against the prison of his own soul and screamed his anger at the demon that possessed his body until all he saw was red. "You sonuvabitch, you touch one hair on my brother's head and I swear to _God_ I will make sure you _never_ get out of Hell again!" Sam screamed again and pounded his fists against the invisible barrier determined to find a way out of this. He had to stop this before they succeeded in killing Dean.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

'Sam' put a hand to his chest and scrunched his face in discomfort slightly as he felt Sam's soul rage inside his body.

"Oooh," he said and then laughed as he smiled at his father. "He _really_ doesn't like that idea," he said and his father just laughed.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was about one o'clock in the morning and Missouri sat by Dean's bed listening as the machines clicked and whirred filling the tense silence of the room. Even though she knew that he was far from okay, at least the steady sounds of the machines let her know that Dean was still alive.

They had been transferred to a more secluded room away from nurses' desk and as soon as Dean was settled they began setting up new wards and protections, questioning glances be damned. Dean needed time to heal and the last thing he needed was another attack on his life.

After things were set, Missouri had decided to take the first watch while Bobby slept. She could see that the tension of seeing both boys hurt and almost losing them both, at least once, had started to take a toll on the older hunter and she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

He sat slumped in the hard plastic chair between Dean and the door with his baseball cap pulled low over his eyes presumably asleep. Missouri knew he was only sleeping lightly and would be on high alert at the slightest noise, but at least for now he was sleeping.

Missouri sat next to Dean and held his hand unconsciously rubbing small circles along his thumb as she stared off into space for a moment. She had placed healing crystals around the room and on Dean's body hoping to help Dean heal quicker. Shaking herself slightly, she looked up at Dean and ran her hand gently through his short hair marveling at how young he looked. Usually so grown up and closed off to his emotions, she sometimes forgot just how young he really was. Since the first time she had met him as a young boy, he had seemed like he was nearly twice his age and carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. And in some ways he did. She just wished that it wasn't so difficult for the two brothers. They had seen too much, too fast, and had to grow up way too fast to handle it all.

There was a slight know at the door, and then Betty walked in tentatively. Missouri smiled lightly at the young woman as she crossed the woman and couldn't help but feel a little sad for her as well.

After what she had seen, they had explained to her what had really happened. Not the story they had told Dr. Howitz, but the real one. That there _were_ actually things that went bump in the night and that one of those things was out to get the two brothers.

She had originally been shocked and didn't want to believe thinking that they must be nuts, but then after what she had seen…she didn't think that she could _not_ believe. "How's he doing?" Betty asked softly not wanting to wake Bobby even though Missouri knew that the hunter had already processed the threat and decided evidently that action didn't need to be taken just yet.

Missouri sighed slightly. "Okay, I guess."

Betty just nodded and check Dean's machines out of habit not sure what else to do.

"How about you, sweetie? How are you holding up?"

Betty looked at Missouri with frightened eyes trying to appear braver than she felt. "Okay, just…a little freaked I guess." She sighed and moved to the third chair that had been moved into the room and sat down with a tired sigh. "I mean…it's a lot to take in."

Missouri smiled sadly at this. "Yes, it can be and I'm sorry that you had to see it. It's never easy to learn what you thought was imaginary is actually real."

It was quiet for a moment as both women just sat there thinking.

"Why?" Betty asked softly.

"Excuse me?" asked Missouri just as softly as she stared at Betty in confusion.

Betty looked at her and then at Dean lying in the hospital bed. "I mean…Why do they do what they do? Hunt evil? How does somebody so young even find out about such things? And, I mean…it's a 'family' thing? What kind of twisted family _purposefully_ hunts demons and ghosts? I mean…that's just messed up," she finished rather heatedly and then realized what she had just said. She looked apologetically at Missouri and then smiled sadly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

It was Missouri's turn to smile sadly as she reached out to pat Betty's knee. "No, child, it's okay. You're right…it _is_ 'messed' up." As Missouri leaned back her eyes slid to where Bobby sat and this time her smile was one of fondness. "But there is a purpose behind the madness."

She turned her eyes back to Dean and reached out to take his hand again making a decision and hoped that Dean wouldn't be too mad at her. "Do you realize…that their mother died when Sam was just a baby?"

Betty shook her head.

"She was killed, by a demon no less. A very _nasty_ evil thing. He burned her on the ceiling of Sam's nursery. Their father, John, found her before she burned but there was nothing he could do. After the fire started, John gave Sam to Dean and he carried his brother to safety just in the nick of time. After that…John tried to find what killed his wife and took the boys along for the ride.

Betty just sat there listening slightly horrified by what she heard. To know that your mother was killed by something evil, a demon, and to know that it was still out there? She couldn't imagine what that would be like, and didn't even really want to think about how that would effect someone. "So that's why they fight?"

Missouri nodded slowly. "Yes. Their life has not been easy, but at least they know at the end of the day that at least they saved somebody else from the heartache that they had to endure."

"That's so sweet I think I'm gonna puke," Bobby grumbled from under his cap and both women jumped slightly.

Missouri just glared at the man as he pushed his hat back and sat up. "Bobby, I swear…now I know where Dean got his sarcastic attitude," she said rather hotly and Bobby just smiled.

"Yeah, well, what can I say…it's a guy thing?"

Missouri just shook her head in annoyance.

"How's he doing?" Bobby asked nodding towards Dean.

Betty got up and went to check Dean's charts. "He's doing better. It looks like the swelling in his throat is going down and we're working on getting the drugs out of his system. Hopefully by morning we can take him off the vent."

"What about the rest of it? Do they think there was any damage done from what the demon gave him?"

Betty frowned slightly and bit her lip as she studied Dean's charts. "I don't think so. So far what tests they've ran hasn't shown any permanent damage, but like anything we'll just have to wait until Dean wakes up."

Bobby and Missouri both sighed at this news and Betty wished she had something better to tell them.

"I should probably get back to work," Betty said as she put the chart away and headed towards the door. "Just push the call button if you need anything."

"Betty?" Bobby called out and Betty turned back to the older hunter. He quickly stood and fished around in his pocket for something and Betty frowned in confusion when he handed her a little silver trinket.

"What is it?' she asked as she studied the little silver medallion with an intricately carved sun-star design on it.

"A protection charm," Bobby said matter-of-factly and nodded towards the little silver piece. "As long as you wear it, demons won't be able to possess you. If you're going to help us, then I want you to be protected."

Betty looked at Bobby in stunned silence before she looked back down at the small charm in her hand. "Thank you," she managed to stutter out not sure what else to say.

Bobby just nodded. "One more thing." He waited until he had Betty's full attention before continuing. "Don't trust anyone. A demon can possess anyone, so we won't know who the enemy is until it's too late. Now, there is one way to tell if someone's possessed but be careful if you try it. They won't be too happy to be found out."

Betty swallowed hard at this news. "What-what is the way to tell?" she finally asked a little afraid to know.

"Just say the word Christo. It's the Latin word for God. A demon will flinch and the person's eyes will turn black."

Betty just nodded jerkily as she closed her hand around the silver charm. She felt a slight tingle of fear go down her spine as she suddenly realized just exactly what she had stumbled into and the fact that it might just get her killed. God she wished that this was all just a bad dream.

Missouri just smiled and gave a slight chuckle when she heard Betty's thoughts. "Lordy, don't we all, my dear."

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A/N: Okay, new chapter done. Yay!  Getting closer to the end. Hope you liked it. Let me know by hitting that little blue button and sending me a review. Good, bad, or ugly. They are all good. Thanks for reading and hopefully it won't be so long between now and the next update. Catch you later.


	12. Chapter 12

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 11

Summary: Sam's visions have been manifesting physically and thanks to the Demon he is definitely in worse shape. With Bobby's help, Dean gets Sam to a hospital in time but after a slow recovery Sam takes a turn for the worse and Dean doesn't handle it well. Now, the Demon seems out to get both Winchester boys and will stop at nothing until at least one of them is dead. But will Sam's visions help or hinder the Demon's pursuit?

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by iS2 (dot) coheed (dot) and (dot) cambria

It's not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one. If you want to read it, go to my favorite stories and click on the link there or go to iS2's profile page.

Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. I'm trying to be better about responding. Just know that I do love getting reviews. They make my day.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

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It had been a long two days. In some ways to Betty it had felt even longer and right now all she really wanted to do was go home, take a shower, and then crawl into bed and sleep. Instead, she was stuck here. At the hospital. Waiting for…_something_ to happen.

She put down her pen and rubbed at her sore neck as she sighed in frustration. At least Dean was doing better. Thankfully he had made it through the worst, and they had even been able to take him off of the vent just yesterday evening. She smiled slightly when she thought back to the almost giddiness of both Missouri and Bobby when Dean had finally woken up and promptly asked for a cheeseburger and fries even though it was said in no more than a whisper.

She gave a slight chuckle and shake of her head at the memory. She didn't think she would ever understand those three; but if she told herself the truth, she was glad that she never would understand them. Even after two days, the thought that there were _demons_ out there still made chills go down her spine; but unlike some people she just couldn't forget what she saw.

"Excuse me. Can you help me?"

Betty gave an inward sigh. "Yes, what can I-" Her words caught in her throat as she looked up at the tall man before her and her heart seemed to skip a beat. She quickly cleared her throat. "Sorry, got a frog in my throat," she said with a wary smile. "What can I do for you?"

Sam looked down at the woman sitting behind the counter and gave her one of his little shy smiles. "Uh, yeah, I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find Dean Coolidge?"

_Okay, don't panic. You can do this, Betty. Just stay calm._ "Are you family?" She hoped if she played dumb that she wouldn't tip him off to what she knew. Bobby and Missouri had filled her in on who they _thought_ the demon might come as, but still she wasn't sure if it could be true.

Sam just smiled. "Yes, I'm his brother. I thought he was in room 209, but I went in there and he wasn't there." Sam's smile faltered and a touch of fear lit his eyes. "Did something happen?"

Betty felt the tension in her neck tighten slightly and she felt doubt creep in. Could this really be the brother, or was the demon just a really good actor? Betty realized that she hadn't said anything for a moment and she quickly shook herself. "Uh, no…no he's alright. They just moved him to a different room when he improved." Betty looked down at her papers for a moment hoping that her hands didn't shake too badly as she tried to come up with something to tell him. She pulled out the list of patients and ran her fingers over the list making sure that Sam couldn't see it also. "Here we go. He's in room 329." She gave him directions to the room that was in the opposite direction of where Dean really was and then gave Sam as good a smile as she could come up with.

Sam looked at her for a moment as if trying to decide if she was lying or not before finally nodding and giving her a big smile. "Okay, thank you."

Betty watched him walk away and when he was finally far enough away, she let go the breath she had been holding.

"Why did you tell him that?"

Betty gave a startled little yelp and turned to see Tracy, one of the other nurses, looking at her with a confused look on her face. "Jesus, Tracy, you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days."

Tracy just frowned. "Funny. Why did you tell him the wrong room number? You know you can get in trouble for that," she said again and it was now Betty's turn to frown as she looked to where Sam had disappeared down the hallway.

"Trust me, Trace. It's all in the name of the patient's own interests." Betty quickly took out her cell phone and started typing a message before pressing send.

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A while later Betty was trying to concentrate on the stack of forms sitting in front of her when she heard someone quietly clear their throat. She looked up and felt herself push back slightly in the chair at who it was. "Can I help you?" she said finally recovering from her initial shock.

Sam stood before her again and he fidgeted slightly before clearing his throat again. "Yes, can you tell me where to find Dean Coolidge?" he asked rather softly.

Betty felt her eyebrows pull together slightly in confusion. She had been expecting to see Sam again, but she had thought that when he came back he would probably be mad for sending him to the wrong room. But he seemed almost…she didn't know exactly. She finally shook herself slightly and with a frown for Sam's benefit turned back to her list of rooms. _Oh those acting skills from high school were going to help out _big_ time here._ She ran her finger over the list again and finally stopped on Dean's name. She looked up at Sam with a slightly apologetic smile on her face. "I'm sorry. He's in room 239."

Sam frowned at her slightly and looked from her face, to the paper, to the hallway. "He's moved?" he asked with a tinge of confusion.

Something kept nagging at Betty's mind, but she didn't know what to think at this point. _If this was the act all demons used, then no wonder people ended up being seduced by evil._ "Yes, I must have gotten the numbers mixed up. It's been a really long day."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Sam mumbled as he continued to stare down the hall for a moment longer. Finally giving his head a slight shake he turned back to Betty and gave her a small smile. "Thank you." He started off down the hall at a slow pace and Betty couldn't help but notice that he seemed to favor one side slightly as if he had been injured.

"Was that the same guy?" Tracy asked and Betty only jumped slightly this time.

She gave an exhausted sigh and nodded. "Yeah." _Okay, guys, now it's up to you._

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Betty had texted Bobby a message about twenty minutes ago that Sam was in the building and since then he and Missouri had been trying to get everything ready for his arrival. Getting the exorcism ready, making sure the salt was swept away from the door…making sure the Holy water was ready. You know…the basics.

Dean was still kind of out of it, so Bobby had decided to just let him sleep. At least that way, his reaction to Sam would be genuine. Nothing could go wrong. Bobby gritted his teeth in frustration as he hid in the small closet. He felt kind of stupid hiding, but he also didn't want to scare the demon off either. If this was going to work, it was going to have to be planned down to the second. He glanced over to Dean's bed and then towards the bathroom where he knew that Missouri was hiding. He just hoped that they didn't wait too long.

The door slid open slightly and Bobby held his breath as Sam walked in spilling light into the barely lit room. The door closed again and Bobby let his eyes adjust to the almost darkness again. He could hear Sam's shuffling steps before finally seeing the boy come into view from his hiding spot.

Sam walked up to Dean's bedside and just stood there for a moment looking at his brother. "Dean," he finally said and reached out to take his brother's hand.

Dean roused slightly before settling again.

Sam reached up to run a hand through his brother's hair then. "Hey, big brother, time to wake."

Bobby pulled his knife silently from its sheath and gripped it reflexively as he waited for the right moment.

He watched as Dean struggled against the pull of the drugs he was still on and his eyelids fluttered slightly.

"That's it, Dean. Wake up."

Dean's eyes finally opened just slightly and he blinked several times before a frown creased his brow. "Sammy?" he all but whispered.

Bobby stood poised to jump out at the slightest movement on Sam's part.

Sam nodded slightly and sighed heavily. "Yeah, Dean, it's me."

Dean's eyes closed again as sleep tried to pull him back under and he gave a slight hum of noise in the back of his throat. "You…'kay?" he asked before trying to open his eyes again.

Sam gave a slight laugh. "Yeah, Dean, I'm okay. Go back to sleep. Okay?" Sam ran his hand through his brother's short hair again and he felt Dean nod slightly against his hand.

"'kay." Dean heaved a deep breath before relaxing again. Soon his breathing evened out again and Bobby knew he was asleep again.

Sam stood there a moment longer with his hand on Dean's head before it moved to Dean's hand. His other hand moved to his side and Bobby moved.

Lightning quick he was out of the closet and holding the knife to Sam's throat. "Don't even think about it," he hissed and the taller man froze.

"Bobby?"

"Don't," Bobby said with a coldness in his voice and led Sam away from Dean's bed. He was surprised the demon hadn't tried to use his powers and throw Bobby against the wall yet, but he knew that he couldn't let the demon get a chance to try. He pushed Sam up against the wall and then adjusted his grip on Sam's arm to twist up and behind his back. Sam cried out slightly and struggled in Bobby's tight grip but Bobby only twisted a little harder. "I trapped you, you sonuvabitch, and now I'm gonna send you back to Hell."

"Bobby, wait," Sam tried and Bobby shoved him a little harder against the wall.

"Don't even try you bastard. Not after everything you've done to this family." Bobby began to recite the exorcism and therefore didn't hear Missouri come out of the bathroom.

"Bobby?" Missouri asked quietly.

Something didn't feel right. Missouri looked between Dean, who was now awake and looking at Bobby holding his brother up against the wall in an arm lock, and then back to both Bobby and Sam. Something felt…different. She tried to tune out what was being said and concentrated on the other impressions in the room, the other-. Her eyes widened slightly and she looked at Sam again. "Bobby," she said again a little louder this time.

Bobby was half-way through the exorcism and Sam cried out in pain. It was working. He just made sure to hold on even tighter not wanting to give the demon even this slightest bit of an opening. Soon it would be over. Soon the demon would be gone.

"Bobby!" Missouri finally shouted and somehow it got through to Bobby. He paused in his incantation and risked a glance back at Missouri.

"What?" he asked he asked impatiently.

"That's not the demon,"

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A/N: Okay. So there it is…another chapter. Hope that the ending wasn't too telegraphed. So, send me a review and tell me what you think about it. And don't worry for those of you who are beginning to wonder if this story will ever end. Yes, this one is almost finished. Next chapter…big battle.  Yeah! Catch you next time.


	13. Chapter 13

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 13

Summary: Sam's visions have been manifesting physically and thanks to the Demon he is definitely in worse shape. After a slow recovery, Sam takes a turn for the worse and Dean doesn't handle it well. Now with both Winchesters in the hospital, the Demon decides that maybe it's time to get rid of Dean so that he is free to take Sam. With one of Sam's visions sending him away so that he won't end up hurting his big brother, Dean is left behind to try and fight off the Demon's attacks with the help of Bobby and Missouri. But will Sam's visions help or hinder the Demon's pursuit? While he was gone, Sam gets possessed by YED's son and now he has come back to the hospital to see if his brother is okay.

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by iS2 (dot) coheed (dot) and (dot) cambria

It's not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one. If you want to read it, go to my favorite stories and click on the link there or go to iS2's profile page.

A/N2: Okay, first off let me apologize profusely for the incredibly long wait between chapters. Life got REALLY crazy and just didn't have the time or energy to write. Plus, this chapter was a bear to put together. Also, thank you so much for all the great reviews. If I didn't respond back I am so sorry. Just know that I really do love hearing what you have to say.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.

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THEN

"_Bobby!" Missouri finally shouted and somehow it got through to Bobby. He paused in his incantation and risked a glance back at Missouri. _

"_What?" he asked impatiently._

"_That's not the demon,"_

NOW

Everything seemed to stop for a moment and Sam tried to pull in deep breaths to fight against the intense pain. The wound in his side had already been hurting from just walking down the hall; and now, having his arm pinned behind him, sent stabs of pain spiraling out from the still healing wound through the rest of his body and effectively stealing his breath in the process. He closed his eyes and shifted a little to lessen the pressure of Bobby's grip but knew from previous experience that, unless Bobby wanted him loose, there was no way out of the hold.

"What?" Bobby asked again in confusion looking between Missouri and Sam and then back again. "What are you talking about?"

"That's not the demon, Bobby," Missouri said gently as she took a step towards the bewildered man. She could feel his confusion and frustration with an underlying level of anger at what he thought was happening and it almost overpowered her. "Why don't you let Sam go…before he passes out?"

Bobby looked back at the young man he still had pinned against the wall and then really _looked_ at him. How his eyes crinkled in pain and his lips had turned a bloodless white from where he had them pressed together tightly in pain. And as realization finally dawned he also noticed how he squirmed slightly against Bobby's iron grip.

_That's not the demon._

What Missouri said finally fell into place and he quickly let go of Sam's arm watching as the younger man groaned in pain and fell heavily against the wall as if that were the only thing keeping him upright at the moment. "Sam?" he managed to get out past the sudden lump in his throat.

For a moment, all Sam could do was try not to pass out from the pain. Finally, moving slowly, he pulled his throbbing arm around in front of him and groaned again as the movement pulled at the wound in his side. Leaning against the wall, he just stood there for another moment concentrating on breathing. _In. Out. In. Out._

Bobby stepped further away from Sam just opening and closing his mouth as he turned helplessly towards the other two in the room. "I-I"

"I know, Bobby," Missouri said as she laid a hand on his shoulder with a small smile. "I thought the same thing."

"Sam?" Dean asked in a small voice not quite sure what was going on yet.

Sam took a few more steadying breaths before turning towards his brother making sure to never lose contact with the wall because he still wasn't real steady on his feet. His eyes finally found his brother's and he could see the confusion and concern shining there through the haze of drugs they must have had him on. "Hey, Dean," Sam said a small smile forming on his lips. He could feel the knot of worry he'd had in his stomach since finding himself back here in the hospital start to unwind at seeing Dean was okay.

A little of the confusion faded from Dean's eyes at Sam's words, but the concern there redoubled as he suddenly realized that Sam was still leaning against the wall heavily. "You okay?"

Sam gave a sad little chuckle and tried to hide the hurt that stabbed through his side at the movement. "Yeah, Dean, I'm okay."

"But…I don't get it?" Bobby asked still not quite sure what to believe. "What happened to the demon? Your vision?"

"Yes, what about his vision?" came a semi-familiar voice from the doorway and everyone turned just in time to find themselves thrown against the nearest wall.

Bobby hit with a resounding smack against the farthest wall and his knife slipped from his fingers as he struggled to regain his breath before looking to the newest arrival. His eyes widened in shock before anger coursed through him for being so naïve. "I should've known you would use him before this was over with," he growled with menace in his voice.

'Dr. Howitz' gave an oily grin as he stepped inside the room with his hands still in the pockets of his white doctor's coat. "Yes, Bobby, you _should_ have known that the good doctor would be the best candidate to slip by anyone undetected. Who better to possess than the doctor of the very patient I want to kill." His smile grew even more and he shook a finger in admonishment. "Getting sloppy in your old age."

The demon stopped in the middle of the room and assessed the assembled hunters. "My, my…the gang's all here," he said as he waved his arms to indicate the trapped hunters. "I guess that just makes my job _so_ much easier." He turned to Sam and gave him a sickly sweet smile that made Sam want to puke. "And you. My dear, Samuel, I guess I should say thank you for your help with that shouldn't I? I mean…without your help. I would never have been able to get past their defenses. So…thanks. You're a _great_ decoy."

"Go to Hell you bastard," Sam sneered and struggled to free his arms from the invisible bonds that bound him to the wall.

The demon just chuckled slightly before fixing Sam with an anger filled black eyes. "You first."

Sam cried out in pain as fire seemed to flare in his side and he could feel a warm liquid start to trickle down his ribs.

"Sam?!" Bobby called out and struggled even harder to break free from the invisible grip "Damn it! Leave him alone."

"Now why would I do that?" The demon never broke his gaze from Sam and Sam continued to squirm in pain. "I mean…he's supposed to be the chosen one. He should be able to stop me, himself."

Sam gave out a little cry and everyone else in the room struggled just a little harder to get free.

"Besides, I owe him for what he did to my sister," the demon growled and used even more force to rip at Sam's wounds.

"You, stupid sonuvabitch," Dean ground out from where he was pinned against the bed. He cursed as the drugs they had him on made it hard to concentrate but he knew that he had to do something to save Sam. "You really believe everything you hear around the demon water cooler?"

The demon seemed to stop his torture of Sam for a moment leaving Sam panting hard as blood began to drip down his side, but still 'Dr. Howitz' didn't look at Dean.

"I never realized that demons were such the gossipers. Of course, I guess spreading rumors about people is evil. So why not?" 'Dr. Howitz' finally looked at him and Dean risked a glance at Sam. He could see his little brother grimace in pain but at least he wasn't whimpering anymore. "But you know what they say about rumors. It's never told the same way twice."

The demon took a step towards Dean and Sam's heart began to thud even harder. "Dean," he said in almost a warning.

Dean's eyes darted over to Sam and then back to the demon. "What, Sammy? It's not like he's gonna do anything. I mean, he's what, just a lackey. Sent to do his _master's_ bidding?"

'Dr. Howitz' sneered slightly and walked close enough to loom over Dean. "Is that what you think? That he's my master?"

Dean gave a mocking grin. "He's not? Gee, then what else could you be to him?" Dean held the demon's stare for a moment more as he tried to break the demon's concentration if even just a little. "Oh, that's right. You said Meg was your sister? Well, then I guess you know what we do to…_lesser_ demons."

Sam's frantic eyes darted around the room searching for anything that he could use to help his stupid brother but he couldn't move and he could have kicked Bobby for not setting up a Devil's Trap just inside the door. His eyes lit on Bobby and then Missouri and he could see the same helplessness in their eyes as his own and he knew that Dean was screwed.

The demon just glared at Dean for a moment and Dean tried not to hold his breath knowing that this had been a stupid idea but at least it had saved Sam's hide.

"You know," the demon began quietly and Dean could see Sam flinch slightly at the sudden sound. "I always heard you had a big mouth. Always trying to be the cocky, smartass, big brother so that you can draw the bad guy's anger away from Sam. Always protecting, _Little_ Sammy." The demon glanced back at Sam and Dean struggled slightly not wanting to remind the demon of Sam's presence. "Of course, you know it works."

'Dr. Howitz' turned back to Dean and Dean sighed inwardly for that small reassurance.

"Always knowing just what buttons to push with whatever you're hunting to get them pissed off at you. But how much do you really know about your _little_ brother?" The demon smiled slightly at this and Dean just frowned in confusion. "Do you really know who, or should I say _what_, you fight so hard to protect?Why the demons _all_ think he's so special?"

Dean just looked at him with confusion and the demon smiled even more before laughing. "You don't know, do you?" The demon's black eyes glinted with evil glee and Dean couldn't help but cringe slightly at the sight. "Well, why don't I…show you?"

Sam was struggling even harder against his invisible bonds knowing what the demon was talking about. He hadn't told anybody what the YED had shown him about that night and he wasn't sure how Dean would react to knowing that his brother could be something they hunted. "No." He watched in a dawning horror as the demon reached out and placed his hands on Dean's face.

Dean tried to struggle against the touch twisting and turning as much as he could but still he knew it was futile. His eyes closed involuntarily as the demon leaned in even closer and muttered something in his ear. Suddenly pain blasted through his brain and he jerked back involuntarily his face scrunched up in pain. His mouth opened in a silent scream as pressure began to build inside his brain until he thought his head might explode.

"Dean!" Bobby and Sam shouted at the same time in dismay.

"Now, you will see," whispered 'Dr. Howitz' and suddenly Dean's eyes snapped open but were unseeing to the world around him.

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_Dean found himself standing in a hallway, sounds of people talking faintly coming from downstairs and he frowned slightly in confusion. "What the Hell?" he said softly. He looked around him trying to figure out where the hell he was when his eyes came across a picture hanging on the wall. A chill went down his spine as he stepped closer to the portrait and recognized the people smiling back at him. "No," he almost whispered. He backed up slightly and then stopped as the lights began to flicker. "No, I don't want to see this." He began to walk down the hall and then stopped short when a figure appeared at the end of the hall. "Mom?" he asked his voice breaking slightly at the sight of her._

_Dean watched as his mother walked across the hallway as if she was almost sleepwalking and stood in the doorway to the other room. "John, does he need to be fed?"_

_Dean watched dumbfounded as she stood there for a moment listening to whatever was being said from inside the room and couldn't help but stare. Long, blonde hair flowing in soft curls down her back, tired eyes with dark circles underneath them because of too little sleep, and yet she was still as beautiful as he remembered._

_She finally mumbled something obviously satisfied with whatever answer John had given her. As she turned back to her room she hesitated. With a puzzled look on her face she headed down the hall towards Dean and he flattened himself against the wall too afraid to see if she would pass through him or perhaps feel that he was there. Once she had passed he found himself reaching out to her longing to feel her touch, but stopped just shy of touching her shoulder not sure of what might happen if he did._

_As he watched her walk down the hall, he could hear sounds coming from the nursery and he walked towards them. A child cooed and he could hear soft murmurs that were too low pitched to be a child's. His Dad, maybe? _

_As he rounded the corner, he froze at what he saw. A man, not his Dad, was standing besides Sammy's crib. "What are you doing?" He started to stride towards the dark figure when he heard frantic footsteps coming back up the stairs. He turned to see his mother racing back towards him and he unconsciously stepped out of her way. _

_Mary skidded into the room and stopped. "Sammy," she called out breathlessly and then watched as the man turned seeing the yellow eyes flash in the wan light. "It's you."_

_Dean reeled at the knowledge not knowing exactly what to believe. His mother knew the Demon? What? As he watched in horror, his mother gasped slightly and was pushed back against the wall. _

"_No!" he hollered and ran towards the Demon. As he reached out to tackle the thing, his arms seemed to slip through him and Dean found himself sliding along the floor before stopping against the opposite wall. He watched with baited breath as his mother was dragged up to the ceiling as if in slow-motion all the time mumbling and shaking his head in denial. _

_He didn't want to watch, and yet he couldn't tear his eyes away. "Mom," he whispered watching her terrified eyes as they seemed to stare down at him. He closed his eyes and put his hands to his head to block out her screams while hoping that this would all end._

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"Dean!" Bobby called out again as he watched the older Winchester writhe in pain under the demon's touch as he continued to watch something no one else could. He could hear Dean call out every once in a while and he struggled to get free even more. "Dean, just hold on, son."

"Bobby," Missouri suddenly called out. "Bobby!" she called again finally getting his attention. He turned wild eyes to her and she glanced over at first Sam, whose terrified gaze was still fixed on his brother, and then Dean. "We have to stop this."

"I know! Don't you think I know that?!" Bobby shouted as he tried to figure out some way to stop what was happening.

"Bobby," Missouri said again, this time more calmly and Bobby turned to her again. "Say the words."

Bobby just looked at her funny not understanding what she was talking about.

"Say them. You're the only one who can right now. You know them by heart."

Bobby's brow crinkled in confusion for a moment longer and then it dawned on him. "Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine Dei." Bobby began the exorcism turning his angry gaze back to the demon. "Patris omnipotentis, et in noimine Jesu Christi…"

Sam had been calling out to his brother, afraid of what the demon was doing to him or showing him; and struggled to get free even more. His injuries screamed at him to stop, but he knew that he couldn't. Not now. He had to save Dean. He tried to reach out with his powers to possibly toss the demon away from Dean, but nothing worked. He cursed under his breath at how utterly useless he felt. He couldn't lose his brother. Not like this.

Dean cried out slightly and started to shake as whatever the demon was doing to him hurt his brother again.

"Damn you, you bastard, leave him alone!" As Sam stared at the scene before him, he suddenly realized that he was hearing something else. Faint murmurs drifted from the other side of the room and he finally tuned in to hear what was being said. Bobby was muttering something quietly and Sam strained to hear what it was. When he finally understood, he took up the chant as well. "…et Spiritus Sanctus habitet in eo,"

The demon flinched slightly at the cursed holy words but continued to hold onto Dean with even more concentration now.

Dean's tremors increased until he was almost arching off of the bed in pain and 'Dr. Howitz' reveled in how much pain this was causing the older Winchester. He only wished that is was more.

Bobby and Sam continued the exorcism, praying that they could finish it in time knowing that each moment that passed could be the last for Dean.

The demon flinched again and ground his teeth together as he felt the exorcism begin to tear him from the good doctor's body and he grunted in pain. He looked down at Dean again and cursed under his breath. He wasn't _finished_. There was still so much he wanted to show him, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could last. He could already feel his hold on the other hunters start to falter and he could feel that psychic bitch start to pry at his work in Dean's mind.

As he watched, blood began to trickle slightly from Dean's nose and he smiled through his pain. At least this much could be done. He closed his eyes and pushed even more into Dean's mind.

_Come on. Come on!_ Bobby silently chanted in his mind as he continued speaking the Latin ritual he had used countless times before. _Just one more verse._ "…et Spiritus Sanctus habitet in eo,"

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Betty had said that she would stay away after she had messaged Bobby that Sam was in the building, but she couldn't help but wonder if they were okay.

She crept towards the room where Dean knowing that she should stay away, but a sense of dread kept her moving. As she reached the room she could make out several voices coming from the other side of the door, but wasn't exactly sure what they were saying.

She reached for the door handle but then stopped pulling her hand back. She unconsciously reached for the charm Bobby had given her hanging around her neck and made sure that it was still there. With that reassurance, she took a deep breath to steady her nerves and then reached for the handle again.

The first thing to reach her was the wall of sounds that had been muffled by the thick door. Next, was the wind as it whipped around the room and made it almost impossible to open the heavy door. As she stumbled into the room, her brain tried to process what her eyes were seeing, and yet she still wasn't sure what exactly she was seeing. Bobby, Sam, and Missouri were standing against the walls obviously struggling to get free, but from what she wasn't sure. And then…her mind reeled at the sight of Dr. Howitz standing over Dean's bed his hands holding the young man down as he seemed to writhe in pain. She glanced hurriedly between everyone in the room trying to figure out what to do and then Dean cried out in pain and suddenly things became very clear.

Without even thinking she ran forward.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

_Dean rocked back and forth slightly as he tried to block out everything around him "No, no, no, no," he continued to chant trying to block the other noises in the room. _

_The shuffling sound of fabric against wallpaper as his mother was pushed towards the ceiling, her almost silent pleas for the Demon not to do this making Dean press even more into the wall, the Demon's low evil chuckle as he relished in hearing her beg for life and that of her son's. And through it all, Dean could hear Sam's small innocent coos and gurgles as watched the terrifying scene, oblivious to why this whole thing was so wrong._

"_I told you, Mary," the Demon finally spoke._

_Dean opened his eyes at the words and couldn't help but look up at the…_thing_ that stood before him with his arm outstretched towards his mother._

"_You knew what would happen if you tried to interfere," the Demon said and it sent Dean's stomach plummeting._

"_I know," Mary said sorrowfully. "But you also knew that I would."_

_Dean's eyes traveled up to his mother reluctantly, and then instantly dropped away as he saw the beginnings of the cut across her stomach. _

_Mary screamed and Dean clapped his hands to his ears again not sure how much more he could take._

_As he stared at the floor in an intense effort to not know anything, anymore; his eyes finally focused on the floor and he could see a small puddle of blood pooled at the feet of the Demon. Dean's eyebrows creased in confusion and he looked up slightly trying to find the source. It couldn't be his mother's blood; it was too far away from where she was. A few drops dripped from the Demon's outstretched arm and Dean could see that his wrist had been cut. _What the-

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The demon struggled to stay in control of Dr. Howitz's body for just a few more minutes. He was so close to finishing this. He knew that Dean was close to knowing the truth about his brother and he just wanted the pleasure of knowing that he had made that possible even if it meant him being sent back to Hell.

Suddenly he felt something smack into him and he stumbled under the extra weight as he felt tiny hands try to pull him away from Dean. He grunted under the futile attack and snarled as he felt an arm wrap around his neck. With a final growl he reluctantly turned from Dean and grabbed at the little twit that dared to attack him.

Betty let out a pained yelp as 'Dr. Howitz' grabbed her arm and then her eyes went wide as he turned to her and she saw his black eyes. He knew that he had been possessed but to see it those black eyes staring back at her from mere inches still her took her by surprise. _Oh crap._

"Betty, get out of there!" Bobby yelled at her but it was too late.

Betty gave a startled yelp as she went flying towards the door and she cried out as pain lanced through her back as she collided with the unforgiving wood. Stars danced in front of her eyes as she watched 'Dr. Howitz' sneer at her before turning quickly back to where Dean laid twitching on the bed. She felt herself sliding to the floor in slow motion before blackness reached up and claimed her mind.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The demon had turned back to Dean and was trying to re-establish the connection it had as Sam sped through the final words to the exorcism. "…qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos, et saeculum per ignem!" Sam finished the exorcism as he watched Dean's eyes roll back in his head and heard the demon scream as he was expelled from the good doctor's body. "Go to Hell you bastard!" Sam yelled as he watched in satisfaction as the demon was torn from his living host.

The black cloud of smoke rose towards the ceiling gathering in swirling clouds before finally dissipating with a final ringing scream leaving an eerie silence behind.

Bobby gave a small grunt as he stumbled away from the wall and he had to work to not to fall flat on the floor.

Sam stumbled forward slightly before falling back against the wall grabbing at his hurt side. Bobby looked between Sam and Missouri, who was just pulling away from the wall with halting steps, and then he looked towards Dean.

"Go to Dean, I'll check out the others," Missouri said and Bobby was never so happy that she could read his thoughts than he was right then. Bobby hurried towards the hospital bed as Missouri hurried over to check on Sam.

Bobby hesitated for a moment when he saw how bad Dean looked not sure if he was ready for what he might find. Dean's lay unmoving on the bed with trails of blood running down his pale face and Bobby swallowed heavily at the sight. "Dean," Bobby said as he came towards the young man, ignoring Dr.Howitz as he stepped over the man to get a closer look at Dean. He quickly lowered the side rail and put a hand to the boy's cheek. His head lolled to the side but Dean didn't show any other signs of waking. "Dean," he said again a little louder and then reached for the boy's pulse point with shaky fingers and gave a sigh of relief when he found a pulse.

"He's alive?" Sam asked hesitantly as he leaned against the wall watching both Bobby and his brother cautiously.

Bobby nodded shakily and then backed away to look at the younger Winchester with misty eyes. "He's alive. Barely."

"Oh thank God," Sam huffed out as relief flooded through him and then he began to slide down the wall his legs no longer able to support his weight.

"Sam?" Bobby said urgently as he watched the young man slide down the wall and land ungracefully on his butt. Bobby quickly came to the fallen hunter's side and put a hand to his cheek. His skin felt hot and slightly slick with sweat. "You're burnin' up."

Sam blinked heavily and looked at Bobby with unfocused eyes. "I'll be okay. Just…help…Dean."

Bobby just shook his head as he reached for the call button that was clipped to Dean's mattress. "Yeah, sure. How 'bout we help you both? Missouri, how is she?" He turned to where Missouri was checking out Betty near the door.

"I think she'll be okay. Got a nasty bump though." She said as she started to drag the nurse away from the door. Soon people would be pouring through there. "How's the doctor?"

Bobby looked over at the man slumped on the floor and grimaced slightly before reluctantly reaching over to turn him over. After checking him over he let out a puff of breath. "He's okay. Just out. Not sure how we're going to explain this one though," he said as he grabbed the doc and pulled him up against the wall.

Soon a nurse came to see why the call button had been pushed and gasped as she entered the room.

"A little help, please," Bobby muttered and the nurse opened the door again to call for more help. Soon the room was filled with activity as word spread of what had happened and people rushed to help each of the injured. Injuries were assessed and one by one the fallen were loaded onto stretchers to be sent for x-rays, testing, and possibly surgery.

Soon, Bobby and Missouri found themselves standing out in the hallway watching as the last person was wheeled away and they were left in the quiet of the open hallway. After taking a calming breath they both just looked at each other.

"Now what?' Bobby asked and Missouri just shrugged.

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A/N: Okay, there it is another chapter. I hope that it was worth the wait. Let me know by sending me a review. Come on, you know you want to. Just do it. Anyways, one more chapter and then this should be done. Also, I was noticing that it has been a year since I started writing on this site. Time definitely flies when you're having fun. So, thank you all for sticking with me for this long and I'll catch you soon with a new chapter.

A/N2: Check out my profile page and go vote for my poll, "How do you think Dean will come back from Hell?" Catch you soon.


	14. Epilogue

YOU WANT ANSWERS?

Chapter 14

A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by iS2 (dot) coheed (dot) and (dot) cambria

It's not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one. If you want to read it, go to my favorite stories and click on the link there or go to iS2's profile page.

Summary: Sam's visions have been manifesting physically and thanks to the Demon he is definitely in worse shape. After a slow recovery, Sam takes a turn for the worse and Dean doesn't handle it well. Now with both Winchesters in the hospital, the Demon decides that maybe it's time to get rid of Dean so that he is free to take Sam. With one of Sam's visions sending him away so that he won't end up hurting his big brother, Dean is left behind to try and fight off the Demon's attacks with the help of Bobby and Missouri. But will Sam's visions help or hinder the Demon's pursuit? While he was gone, Sam gets possessed by YED's son and now he has come back to the hospital to see if his brother is okay.

A/N2: Okay, here is the FINAL chapter to this story. Woo-hoo. I know it has been a long time in the coming but it seemed to elude me on how to wrap this one up. So…for now…I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine. And…if anything medical is not quite right? Well, those are my mistakes. I'm not a doctor after all, just a geeky writer with an idea. Enjoy!

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The closer he got to waking up, the more he didn't want to. First, there was the smell. That…oh so clean smell of disinfectant that could only mean one thing: hospital. Next, came feeling which brought with it the deep seated ache and throb of both injuries and exhaustion, and as he drifted closer to consciousness he couldn't stop the small groan that escaped him.

There was a scrape of a chair and the quiet rustling of cloth against cloth and then a warm hard settled on his forehead. "Sam? Come on sweetie. Time to wake up now."

Sam frowned slightly at the sound of the familiar voice and leaned into the touch as it slid down to his cheek. It seemed so unfamiliar in the softness of it and yet he yearned to feel that touch again.

"That's it, Sam," a gruffer sounding voice said from his other side also sounding familiar. "Come on now. Open your eyes."

Both Bobby and Missouri watched as Sam struggled to regain consciousness with baited breath hoping that the young man would finally wake up enough to recognize them. After a brief struggle, Sam finally managed to open his eyes and both hunter and psychic smiled at the sight.

"Hey there," Missouri greeted softly brushing her hand through his hair and Sam closed his eyes again in exhaustion.

"No, Sam, come on. Open your eyes again," Bobby coaxed and took Sam's hand in his own and rubbed small circles along the thumb.

"Hmmm," Sam hummed slightly in the back of his throat and then tried again to pry his heavy lids open. When he finally managed to pry them open again it took him a moment to try and focus on the blurry shapes in front of him. "Hey," he said almost breathlessly and blinked his eyes a few more times.

Bobby smiled slightly at that. "Hey, yourself. Welcome back. And just so you know, you scared the crap out of us."

Sam just smiled lazily at him not really able to pull a coherent thought together quite yet. "What…happened?"

Bobby and Missouri exchanged a brief glance trying to decide exactly how much to tell him. "Let's just say you weren't yourself for a while," Missouri said a little hesitantly.

Sam just frowned as a few memories started to come back to him. "Possessed?"

"I guess you'd call it that. At least for a while anyway," Bobby said and Sam gave a little smile.

"How are you feeling?" Missouri asked trying to read Sam's feelings, but wasn't getting much quite yet with all the drugs he was on.

"Tired," Sam breathed out as he closed his eyes then forced them open again as a thought occurred to him and he tried to look around. "Dean?"

Both Bobby and Missouri frowned slightly at that. "What do you remember?" Missouri finally asked.

Sam tried to concentrate and couldn't seem to pull his thoughts together. "I'm…not sure? Still…kind of hazy."

Bobby just chuckled slightly at that. "Yeah, I'm not surprised with what kind of drugs they've got you on. They had to take you back into surgery to repair some damage to your side and you've been pretty out of it since then."

Sam just blinked up at Bobby not quite comprehending what the older hunter was saying. "O-kay?" he finally managed still clearly confused as to what was going on.

Bobby and Missouri just smiled and exchanged another look. "Like I said, you've been out of it. Why don't you get some more sleep? We'll be here when you wake up again."

Bobby patted his shoulder slightly and Sam couldn't help but feel comforted by the touch. "…'Kay." He had to admit he was still pretty tired, but as his eyes closed he couldn't help but think he was forgetting something. But before he could catch the thought again, he was out.

The next time he woke, he could hear faint voices in the background. A few words such as 'Sam', 'Dean' and 'demon' filtered through but nothing quite made sense as he drifted in that gap between sleep and awake where you could go either way at the drop of a hat. And yet…something kept nagging at him.

"Bobby," Missouri placed a hand on Bobby's arm and looked over towards where Sam lay. "I think he's starting to wake up again."

She quickly made her way over to Sam's side and took his hand in hers. "Come on, Sweetie, I know you're awake."

Sam frowned slightly and then finally opened his eyes to glare slightly at the older psychic.

Missouri just chuckled slightly and then patted Sam's hand. "Yes, I know but I think you've slept enough for right now. How are you feeling…truthfully?"

Sam thought about it for a second and then nodded slightly. "Better. How long have I been out?" He tried to clear his throat and swallowed trying to work some moisture into his dry mouth.

Missouri noticed and leaned back to get a glass of water for Sam and then helped him sit up slightly to take a few sips.

Sam choked slightly on the last sip and coughed, but then tried to abort that as pain spiked through his side. He weakly wrapped his arms around his ribs and grimaced as the stitches pulled slightly.

"Easy, Sam, easy," Bobby was there beside him with a steadying hand on his shoulder. "Just breathe."

Sam tried to suck in a few tentative breaths and finally was able to get the coughs under control. "Oh, man," he rasped out as he flopped back against his pillows.

Missouri rubbed small circles against his hand using the familiar gesture to try and help calm him. "Sorry."

"I'm okay," Sam finally managed to get out and let his eyes fall closed again as he continued to regain his composure. _Damn, that hurt._

"I know, honey. I'm sorry," Missouri said with genuine concern in her voice.

After a few more steadying breaths, Sam opened his eyes again and noticed that Bobby was gone. "Where'd Bobby go?"

"He went to get the doctor to see about some more pain meds for you."

"No, I'm fine. It just…hurts a little." He tried to hide a grimace as his side gave a rather nasty throb of pain. 

"Uh huh," Missouri said not sounding at all convinced. "You sound more and more like that brother of yours every day."

At that, memories started coming back to Sam and his eyes flew open. "Dean." He started looking around frantically and Missouri could see that he was starting to panic. "Where's Dean? Is he okay?"

Missouri got up and tried to stop Sam from getting up. "Sam? Sam, calm down."

"Dean? Missouri where is he? The demon did something. I don't remember, but…" He finally stopped as a thought occurred to him and he turned horrified eyes towards her. "Did he…?"

Missouri frowned slightly and then her eyes flew open in surprise as she finally got what he was asking. "No. No, Dean's okay."

"Then why isn't he here? If he's okay then where-"

"Sam!" Missouri said sternly bringing Sam's eyes back to hers. "He's okay. He's just…" Missouri pursed her lips trying to figure the best way to tell Sam what happened. "The demon…hurt him pretty bad, but he's okay."

"Then where is he?" Sam asked softly sounding and looking as if he were four again and needing to be told that the monsters under his bed aren't real and that everything would be okay.

Missouri smiled sadly and took Sam's hand in hers not meeting his eyes and Sam's worry increased ten-fold. They sat like that for a long moment neither sure what to say until finally Missouri came to a decision. "Wait just a minute." She held up a hand to stop Sam's protests. "I promise, when I get back I'll explain everything. Okay?"

Sam searched her face for some kind of answer and then finally nodded in agreement.

Missouri nodded in return and then got up and slipped out of the door leaving Sam to wonder what had happened to Dean. As he lay there, more memories of what had happened started to come back and his fears for his brother increased even more.

_Oh, god._ _What if Dean was really hurt? What had the demon forced Dean to see in that vision? What if- _Sam inhaled sharply as another thought came to him. _Oh God, this is all my fault._

Finally, the door opened and Sam's head snapped over to see who it was. As he watched, Missouri walked in closely followed by Bobby and then a doctor that Sam had never met before.

"Sam, this is Dr. Downing. He's going to be taking over for Dr. Howitz," Bobby said indicating the middle-aged man who nodded slightly and gave a small smile.

"Hello, Sam."

"Where's my brother?" Sam asked getting really worried. "Where's Dean?"

The other three in the room exchanged a knowing look and then Dr. Downing cleared his throat slightly as he stepped forward. "Um, first, let me check you out here. Okay?" He reached forward with his stethoscope but Sam halted him with a raised hand.

"No. No exams, no asking how I'm feeling. I just want to know where Dean is right now." As he spoke, Sam's voice continued to rise with his growing panic.

"Sam," Bobby snapped making sure to gain the boy's attention. "You need to let Dr. Downing check you out. Then," he said making sure to cut off any argument from Sam. "We'll take you to see Dean. Okay?"

Sam just looked between Bobby and the doctor and then back before nodding hesitantly. "Okay."

Dr. Downing hurried through his examination sensing how tense Sam was and finally after what seemed like forever to Sam the doctor said he was finished.

"So how is he, Doc?" Bobby asked with baited breath.

"He's doing well. The wound in his side seems to be healing nicely. No infection or anything. I'd say probably with a few more days rest, he should probably be able to go home. That is if he takes it easy and doesn't try to do too much too fast." The good doctor made sure to make a pointed look at Sam who just frowned in return. "With that said," he turned and headed towards the door and stepped out for a second. When he came back he had a wheelchair in hand. "I think it's time to go see your brother."

Sam finally smiled in relief. If they were taking him to see Dean, then at least he knew that his brother wasn't dead. He quickly tried to get up using both Bobby's and the doctor's help to sit up and get in the chair. By the time he was seated, he was breathing heavily and had to lean forward slightly to keep the stitches from pulling so much.

"You okay?" Bobby asked resting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," he said trying not to show the strain in his voice. After a few more moments he straightened and nodded his okay. "I'm fine. Just…take me to my brother."

The doctor just nodded and headed for the door. As they walked, Dr. Downing filled Sam in on Dean's condition. "Your brother is doing pretty good considering. We ran some scans and found that he had a slight swelling of the brain which is what caused the bleeding from before. We're not exactly sure what caused it, but we've been keeping an eye on him, and thankfully…we couldn't find any signs of any inter-cranial bleeding or any other possible problems. Since then, the swelling has started to come down and is almost completely gone, but…"

Sam looked up at the doctor and swallowed hard. "But…"

Dr. Downing sighed heavily before turning to look at Sam again. "He hasn't woken up yet."

Sam's mind reeled at that. "But you said he was okay."

"He is. According to all the tests, he's been improving dramatically. But until he wakes up, and I'm quite confident that he _will_ wake up. We won't know if there is any lasting damage." The doctor took a moment to let Sam process this. "I _know_ your brother is a fighter. From everything I've heard, you both are, and that is definitely in his favor."

Sam tried to absorb what the doctor was telling him but he kept getting stuck on the words 'swelling' and 'hasn't woken up'. "But he's going to be okay?"

"Like I said, we can't be sure until he wakes up. I'm sorry we worried you so much, but I didn't want you waking up to find your brother in the next bed and unresponsive," the doctor said with sincerity.

Sam could only smile sadly. "Anything else I need to know?"

Dr. Downing shook his head. "No, I think that's it. Just...talk to him. It'll do him good to hear a familiar voice. In the meantime, I'll see what I can do to get you transferred into the same room. I'm sure Agents McCaid and Johnson here will be glad about that."

Sam frowned in confusion until he realized he was talking about Bobby and Missouri. He looked up to see Bobby nod stiffly and tried hard not to laugh out loud at the notion of Bobby and Missouri being with some kind of federal agency.

"Well, I'll leave you alone now so you can go see Dean. If you have any questions, please let me know." The doctor walked down the hall leaving the trio standing outside Dean's door.

Once he was down the hall a little bit, Missouri swatted the back of Sam's head making him jump. "Ow! What was that for?" he grumped rubbing at his head as he held his ribs protectively.

"For what you were thinking a little bit ago," Missouri said fixing Sam with a heated gaze. "You know better."

Sam couldn't help but smile knowing what Missouri was talking about. "Sorry, but…agents?"

"Well it was all I could think of after what happened with Dean and that demon the first time," Bobby whispered sternly just daring Sam to question it. "Besides, it's kept them from looking into you boys' situation any further. So…if anyone asks…you're in the witness protection program. Kapeesh?"

"Witness-" Sam tried to stifle the grin that threatened to spread across his face and just nodded not trusting himself at the moment to not burst out laughing.

"Okay," Bobby said calming down slightly. "Let's go see that brother of yours."

Sam sobered instantly at the notion and turned back to the door they were standing in front of.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Dean lay there looking like he was just sleeping except for the IV in his hand and the heart monitor beeping out a steady beat next to his bed.

Sam swallowed hard and bit his lip as he stared at Dean's still form just wishing that this was all a bad dream. When Bobby pushed him closer to the bed, he immediately took Dean's hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. He just sat there for a moment staring at his brother's peaceful face not sure what to say and then looked away guiltily.

"Sam," Missouri said gently and Sam looked up at her. "This is not your fault, baby. You tried everything to keep him safe including telling him about your dream."

Sam looked down at his lap unable to meet her eyes but Missouri gently lifted his chin to meet her eyes again. "This is _not_ your fault. Dean knew the risks of using himself as bait. He's always known what the risks are to keep you safe. And you know that he wouldn't blame you for this now."

Sam just nodded as tears clogged his throat knowing that she was right. But dang it. It shouldn't have to be like this. He finally took a breath and looked back up at Dean. "Can you feel him?"

Missouri just sighed and moved up to run her fingers through Dean's hair. "No, but that's not always a bad thing. He's been through a lot. It may just take him some time to make it back to us."

Sam just nodded. "Thank you," he said softly. "Both of you."

Missouri just gave a small smile. "That's what family's for."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was another day before Dean started to show signs of waking; but for all the cajoling and promises to do harm from Sam and the others, he just wouldn't wake. Finally, after watching Sam yawn for what seemed like the hundredth time, Missouri threatened to knock Sam out with her purse unless he got some sleep and ordered him back to his own bed. Reluctantly, and with a few grumbled words, Sam finally agreed to at least lie down and as he sank down onto the soft mattress he realized just how tired he really was. _Maybe just a few minutes._ And with that, he was out.

When he opened his eyes again, he noticed the sun was lower in the sky and Bobby was sitting watching TV with the sound turned down low and Sam had to blink several more times to bring his vision back into focus.

When Bobby looked up again, he noticed that the younger Winchester was awake and smiled. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty, have a good nap?"

"Hmm, what time is it?" Sam asked and then rubbed his eyes with a knuckle making him look like a little kid again and Bobby couldn't help but smile.

"About…six o'clock," Bobby said looking at his watch. "You slept for almost three hours."

"How's Dean?" Sam looked around for the bed controls and then started lifting the head of the bed not wanting to be laying down any more but not quite ready to try and sit up by himself either.

Bobby just sighed and looked over at the older boy still lying in his bed. "The same. Missouri went down to get us some food probably about fifteen minutes ago. Do you want anything?"

Sam just shook his head and looked over at Dean with worried eyes. "No, I'm fine."

An assortment of screams and yells came from the T.V. interspersed with gunfire and Sam furrowed his brow in confusion as it drew his attention. "What are you watching?

Bobby blinked slightly in surprise and then squirmed slightly in his seat. "Oh, uh…nothing just…something I found."

"_Alright you Primitive Screwheads. Listen up! You see this? This... is my BOOMstick!_

Sam watched it for a moment more his eyebrows drawing together in confusion and then... "Is that…" His jaw dropped open in shock and then he looked at Bobby. "Are you watching _Army of Darkness_?"

Bobby shifted a little and frowned slightly. "No."

Sam couldn't help but laugh slightly and then groaned as his side pulled with the sudden movement. "Oh man, if Dean could see this."

"I wasn't really watching it. I just-"

"No. It's great. Dean _loves_ it, it's so cheesy. He usually drives me nuts for days after quoting the damn thing," Sam said shifting slightly higher in the bed.

"Really?" Bobby raised an eyebrow and turned back to the show. As he watched it for a moment he found himself smiling slightly. "It is kind of funny I guess."

As they watched Ash fight his evil twin and then cut up his body to keep him from coming back, they found themselves laughing at the cheesy one-liners and ridiculous scenarios. "Oh man, who comes up with this stuff?" Bobby said shaking his head.

"Just wait until you see the skeletons," a slightly croaky voice whispered.

Bobby and Sam both whipped around to stare at the third member in the room and Sam's jaw dropped once again. "Dean?"

"I can't believe you're actually watching that," Dean managed to rasp out and then closed his eyes again in exhaustion.

"Hey, what can I say?" Bobby said as he came towards Dean's bed. A big smile plastered on his face. "It was a little more entertaining than watching you sleep all the time."

Dean just gave a slight grin. "Yeah, I s'pose." He licked his lips and tried to swallow feeling how parched his throat was.

"You thirsty?" Bobby got a glass of water and helped him take a drink.

Dean sighed slightly as the cool watch soothed his throat. "Thanks." He blinked again and squinted against the waning light and then turned to look at Sam. "You okay?"

Sam just snorted and rolled his eyes slightly. "Yeah, Dean, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, how are you? And _don't_ say fine."

Dean paused for a moment taking inventory. His head hurt, actually…his whole body hurt and he felt like he could sleep for a week, but… "I'm okay, Sam. Just…tired."

"Well after everything you've been through, I'd say you're entitled," Bobby said not able to help the smile that seemed permanently plastered on his face.

Dean sighed slightly closing his eyes once again before peeling the heavy lids open to glare at Bobby. "You know you're entirely too cheerful don't you?"

Both Bobby and Sam just laughed at that.

"What is going on- Oh, well I was wondering when you were going to wake up," Missouri said coming back into the room with a tray full of food.

"Hello to you too, Missouri," Dean said wearily not even bothering to turn his head to look at the psychic.

"Well I think _somebody_ woke up on the wrong side of the bed this evening," Missouri said coming closer and putting a hand on Dean's forehead. She waited for Dean to open his eyes before finally giving him a small smile. "You had us worried."

Dean just gave a tired smile. "Sorry."

"You just rest. There'll be plenty of time for questions later," Missouri said softly already feeling how tired Dean was. The corner of his mouth twitched into a smile before smoothing back out and Dean sighed as he let himself fall back asleep.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next time Dean surfaced he could hear voices talking, but couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

"_So what about Dr. Howitz?"_

"_-about the YED?" _

"_We'll just have to see what he remembers."_

Dean frowned slightly at that and pried his eyes open. He blinked against the bright sunlight streaming through the blinds and tried to get his eyes to adjust as he turned to look at the other three.

"At least they say there wasn't any lasting damage done," Sam said.

"Yeah, I don't want to think what could have happened if Betty hadn't done something," Bobby was saying as a dark look passed across his face.

"Thankfully, she's as bull-headed as that brother of yours," Missouri said and then frowned slightly. "Speaking of which." She turned to Dean and the others followed suit.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious Dean squirmed slightly. "Hey."

"Hey," Sam said turning more fully towards Dean. "How are you feeling?"

Dean gave a small smile. "I'm fine, Sammy." He then sat up feeling a little light headed but easily hid that with a steady hand on the mattress.

"Uh-huh. Tell us something we don't know," Missouri said sarcastically and Dean was smart to look slightly chagrined. "Do you need anything?"

Dean started to shake his head and then thought better of it. "Nah, I'm good." Finally turning to look at Sam he frowned slightly. "What about you? Are you okay?"

Sam still didn't look one hundred percent. As Dean watched his little brother, he could see the dark circles under his eyes and the slight wince he tried to hide whenever he moved wrong; but at least he looked better than before.

Sam just huffed a frustrated sigh and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Dean, I'm fine. Just a little banged up. It's nothing really."

"Yeah, don't believe everything you hear," Bobby interjected. "He has the Winchester tendency to underplay the obvious."

"Do not," both Sam and Dean said at the same time and then blushed slightly when Bobby and Missouri just laughed.

"I rest my case," Bobby said with a slight chuckle.

"So when can I get out of here?" Dean asked hoping to change the subject.

"Why don't we let the doctor decide that," Missouri said quickly. "I think he might protest to you wanting to jump out of bed just yet."

"Why? I feel fine."

"Dean," Sam said huffily. "You were bleeding from your eyes, nose, and ears. I think you might want to take it easy for a little while."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't remember?" Sam asked.

"Not really. I remember some of it, but the rest…" Dean just shrugged and then shot Missouri a look making the psychic frown slightly.

"Well why don't we let the doctor take a look at you first, and then we'll go from there," Bobby said standing and then headed towards the door to find their doctor.

Missouri just pinned Dean with a look letting him know that she knew, but she could tell that he didn't want to discuss it. And for now…she would let it slide but he was _definitely_ going to have some explaining to do later.

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It was a couple more days before the doctor finally gave both brothers the go ahead to leave and Dean, for one, was never so happy to leave someplace before than he was now. As he worked on putting his shoes on, the cast on his hand making it a little more difficult, he noticed his brother finish pulling his shirt on carefully and Dean just stopped to watch.

The truth was that he remembered what the demon had shown him. He didn't know exactly what it all meant, but he knew for sure that he wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon either. The fear in his mother's eyes as she was slowly dragged up the wall or the simple fact that she seemed to _know_ the Demon was mind-boggling enough. But the fact that the Demon had been bleeding? He still wasn't sure what that meant and knew that those images would haunt him for a long time to come.

But he also knew for certain that he couldn't tell his brother. He couldn't do that to Sam. To Sam, his Mom was nothing but a story told by his father and brother of a woman who was sweet and kind before the Demon attacked. He couldn't tell him that his Mom may be something else. Not until he had more answers.

"Do you need a little help?"

Sam looked up from trying to figure out how he was going to get his shoes on without pulling at the stitches in his side and then sighed slightly in relief. "Yeah."

Dean pulled a chair closer to Sam's bed and then patted his knee for Sam to put his big foot on it. Sam lifted his foot with a slight grimace and then handed Dean his shoe to put on. Dean quickly slipped the shoe on and tied the laces with a practiced ease that spoke of the many times he had done it before when they were kids.

Sam found himself smiling slightly and then gave a startled look when Dean looked up at him and gave him a questioning look. "Sorry."

Dean just quirked an eyebrow and took the second shoe to put on. When he was done, he tapped Sam's foot and then stood up. "All set?"

Sam just nodded and then got up off the bed gingerly.

"Okay you two. Hop in," Bobby said as he and Missouri came in pushing matching wheelchairs.

"Oh, hell no," Dean said in frustration. "No, I am _not_ riding in that thing." Dean pointed at the wheelchair as if it were the most evil thing he had ever seen.

"Oh come on Dean. You know the rules," Nurse Betty said as she came into the room, her arm in a sling and a slightly fading bruise on her forehead.

"Well, look who made it," Bobby said giving the spunky nurse a little smile.

"Well I _had_ to see my favorite patients off now didn't I?"

"Uh, don't you mean your most troublesome patients?" Bobby gave a little wink and received twin death glares from Sam and Dean in return which only made him smile more. "We're glad you came." The smile then slipped from his face and he cleared his throat slightly. "You okay with all of this?" he asked motioning to all them in general.

Betty just gave a shaky sigh and looked at the four of them. "Not really? But I do know that in some freaky way…it makes sense? And I _know_ that even if I wanted to, I can't go back to _not_ knowing about what goes bump in the night. Not after everything that happened."

Sam just gave her a sad smile. "Thank you…for everything."

"And remember, if you need anything. Just call," Dean said making sure she knew that he meant it.

"Same goes for you," Betty said meeting Dean's eyes with the same intensity.

Dean just nodded in return.

"Okay, well let's get this party started," Betty said and motioned to both chairs. "Your chariots await."

Dean and Sam both groaned slightly but slid into the wheeled contraptions as if they were afraid they might bite and waited to be wheeled out.

Both Bobby and Missouri just smiled slightly and then headed for the door.

As soon as they were out the front doors, Dean was hollering for Bobby to stop and he scrambled out of the chair giving it one last hated look before turning to look out at the parking lot. Finally, feeling like things might be going right for a change, he scanned the parking lot and felt a little more weight lift from his shoulders as he spotted his baby gleaming in the morning sun.

Quickly walking over to it he ran a hand along her side until he reached the door and then made quick work of the lock and slid inside. He sighed as he slid into the seat and rested his head back against the seat and let the rest of his tension melt away. God, he'd missed this.

There was a knock on the passenger window and then Sam leaned inside with a small smile on his face. "Uh, do I need to leave you two alone for a minute?"

Dean just gave him a face. "Shut up." As Sam gave a snicker, Dean huffed out a breath and then slid back up in the seat to a sitting position.

A knock on his window had him turning to roll it down and Bobby leaned down to get a better view of the two boys. "Now you two be careful. If you want, you can come up to my place for a while until you're ready for another hunt?"

"Thanks, Bobby, but I think we're just gonna hit the road. Maybe head South, take in some sun and sand if you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Bobby just held Dean's gaze for a moment before turning to look at the younger Winchester in the passenger seat. "Now don't you two be strangers."

"We won't," Sam said holding Bobby's stare for a moment more saying so much more with his eyes than he ever could with words.

Bobby just nodded and tapped the window frame before stepping back as Dean started the Impala. The throaty growl of the engine as it filled the air making everyone smile slightly.

"Take care, Missouri," Dean said and just smiled when the psychic gave him a slight nod.

With that Dean pulled out and headed out of town. As they turned away from the hospital and towards the highway, Dean could feel his shoulders start to loosen and knew that Sam was feeling the same thing. Both of them just happy to be out on the road again and moving away from the accursed town.

"So…where to?" Dean asked as he guided the black muscle car into traffic.

"I don't know. How about Florida? You did say sand and sun."

Dean thought about it for a moment and then shrugged slightly. "Okay, sounds good to me. Of course, we're gonna have to do something first before we hit the beach." He gave Sam a critical, over-all glance before turning back to the road.

Sam looked down at his clothes before giving Dean a confused look. "What?"

"Tanning," Dean said point-blank. "You'd probably blind everyone with that…_pasty_ white skin of yours if you decided to go without a shirt. Not to mention they might mistake you for Frankenstein's monster what with you being so freakishly tall and having all those scars." Dean turned serious eyes back to the road and tried not to smile.

Sam just stared at him for a moment, mouth gaping, as he tried to come up with some kind of remark and then just scoffed and smacked Dean's shoulder. "Jerk."

"Bitch." Dean returned with a big smile making Sam roll his eyes and shake his head. Dean just laughed and shook his head in return. "Okay Florida, here we come."

THE END  
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A/N: Okay guys, this is the end. *sniff* It's been fun writing this and I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it even with the incredibly long wait times between chapters. So…let me know what you think by sending me a review. I'd really like to know what you think it warms my heart to know. Until next time.


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